Lyon was the sole bidder for the nine-day event – the first major international Paralympic athletics event following London 2012 – which will take place at the Stadium of Parilly (pictured top), set in 178 hectares of parkland to the south east of the city in the Rhones-Alpes region, on July 19-28.

It will be the sixth IPC World Championships after Berlin first hosted the competition back in 1998 and Ryan Montgomery, IPC Athletics' sport senior manager, predicted it will carry on where last summer's Games, hailed as "the greatest Paralympics ever" by IPC President Sir Philip Craven, left off.

"It was exciting to be back in Lyon to see the progress that has been made in the delivery of the World Championships by the organising committee in the past few months, and we are certain that this year's World Championships will build off the success we created at the London 2012 Paralympic Games," Montgomery said.

"We expect the Championships to showcase both athletes who celebrated Paralympic titles in London, as well as young, emerging talent in the sport."


Among the Paralympic champions and medal winners heading to Lyon 2013 are Britain's Hannah Cockroft, who won gold in the T34 100 metres and 200m at London 2012, who explained she had high expectations for the event.

"I really, really hope that people are going to come out and watch us," she said.

"Even for the Brits, it's really close to home for us, so hopefully we can draw a crowd."

The Championships are receiving a lot of local support in Lyon, with a number of community programmes involving schools and sports clubs taking place to promote the event, including a test event on May 25.

Lyon 2013 is also currently working to recruit 1,000 volunteers, including 150 interpreters, and those interested can apply here.

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