Moorhouse, who lost his left leg after an accident when he was six-weeks-old, joins 25 other Paralympians in the podium level of UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme it was announced today for 2011/12, running from December to November.

The category is for athletes with "realistic medal-winning capabilities" at the forthcoming Olympics and Paralympics.

The 22-year-old, who plans one day to run the London Marathon, has made a rapid rise in an event he only took up in 2009 after being spotted at a talent day in the capital.

After finishing fourth at this year's IPC World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, Moorhouse - coached by Dan Pfaff at the UK Athletics High Performance Centre in Lee Valley - has added six metres to his personal best, breaking the British record with his effort of 47.33 metres, which is less than half-a-metre off this year's world leading mark.


Three time IPC World Champion David Weir - reigning Paralympic wheelchair champion over 800 and 1500 metres - is also among those named at Podium level.

Peter Eriksson, UK Athletics' Paralympics head coach, added: "It's been a long year because of the IPC World Championships in January, but in the main, our athletes have continued to deliver high quality performances throughout the summer which have made this selection process easier for us.

"Moving into a Paralympic year it's important that we've increased the base level at which our athletes are competing and I'm confident that we've done that, partly through more competition opportunities, but also due to the commitment from the athletes and the no excuses environment in which we're operating.

"Added to that, while the support we have from UKA and the National Lottery gives every athlete the opportunity to demonstrate their ability, the medal targets set by UK Sport ensure that once on funding, they must maintain that exceptionally high standard."

The selection panel consists of head coaches, national event coaches and an independent statistician.

Athletes entered at either level have met strict criteria and performance standards, which have been present throughout the year, and will have further targets to meet over the next 12 months with the support of UK Athletics staff.

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