London to host 2017 Paralympic world championships

LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:14am GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - London will get the chance to recreate the magic of 2012 after being chosen to host the 2017 Paralympic athletics world championships, Mayor Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

The event will be held just a month before the Olympic Stadium hosts the IAAF world athletics championships, making London the first city to stage both events back-to-back.

This year's Paralympics athletics events attracted sell-out 80,000 crowds with the performances of British 100m runner Jonnie Peacock and wheelchair racer David Weir providing some of the most memorable moments of the Games.

"London just staged the best spectacle of sport the world has seen," Johnson said in a statement.

"By bringing the IPC athletics world championships to our wonderful Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park just a month before the world athletics championships, the capital is poised to recreate the magic of 2012.

"London's Paralympic Games were the first ever to sell out, and these Championships provide a perfect chance to build on that enthusiasm for disabled sport," he added.

Xavier Gonzalez, chief executive of the IPC, said London had helped raised the bar for Paralympic athletics.

"We cannot wait to see Great Britain embrace the Paralympic Movement once again with open arms," he said.

"The bar has been set high for the 2017 IPC Athletics World Championships, and we are eager to see the worldwide media attention they attract."

The next edition of the championships is being held in Lyon, France in 2013.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/19/uk-athletics-paralympics-idUKBRE8BI0J520121219?feedType=RSS&feedName=sportsNews

patricia heaton arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward solar storms uganda the parent trap