Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympics which wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h (18.6 mph) or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.
Dean Bergeron is a Paralympic athlete from Canada who competed mainly in category T52 sprint events in four Paralympic Games and is pursuing a career as an actuary.
The United Arab Emirates started actively participating in the Paralympic community during the 1990s. They made their debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Since that time, they have won several Paralympic medals. The country had their debut on the international Paralympic stage at the 1990 Stoke Mandeville Games. Some of the country's Paralympic competitors are internationally ranked. The United Arab Emirates have competed at several other Paralympic events including the Arab Paralympic Games, Asian Paralympic Games, IWAS World Games, Stoke Mandeville Games, and World Semi-Olympic Championship. The United Arab Emirates Paralympic Committee is the national organisation, gaining its International Paralympic Committee recognition in 1995 and have subsequently made winning medals and hosting events a priority.
The Women's 100 metres B1 was a sprinting event in athletics at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, for blind athletes. For the first time, category B was subdivided, with totally blind athletes running in the B1 event. Sixteen athletes took part, representing thirteen nations. Defending champion Grazyna Kozlowska of Poland was not among them. Spain's Purificacion Santamarta, competing in the event for the first time, won gold and set a new world record in 14.46s.
The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Jessica Rogers is an American wheelchair basketballer, wheelchair racer and swimmer. She is also the founder of the International Sacral Agenesis/Caudal Regression Syndrome Association, or iSACRA, an organization for information sharing, support, and networking.
Australia competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Games significantly expanded in 1968 when compared to previous years, as did the Australian team and the events included in the Games. Mexico City were originally to host the 1968 Paralympics, however, they were moved to Tel Aviv in Israel.
Algeria competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. It was the country's third participation in the Summer Paralympic Games. Its delegation consisted in six track and field athletes and two competitors in powerlifting. Sprinter Mohamed Allek, who has cerebral palsy, won all of Algeria's medals at these Games - three gold.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.
Papua New Guinea participated in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from August 29 to September 9, 2012.
Rosemary Little is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She won a bronze medal in wheelchair racing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and has also competed in handcycling. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, her third Games, where switched from wheelchair racing to shot put.
Kristy Pond is an Australian athletics competitor. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics in the 100 metre and 200 metre events. She did not medal at the 2012 Games.
Juana Soto is a paralympic athlete from Mexico competing mainly in category TW4 sprint events.
Robert Aubrey Matthews, was a British athlete who competed in blind middle- and long-distance events. He won eight gold medals across seven Paralympic Games, and has been referred to as an "iconic athlete".
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, from 94 different countries. The event was held in the Stade du Rhône located at the Parc de Parilly in Vénissieux, in Lyon Metropolis.
Brent Lakatos is a Canadian wheelchair racer in the T53 classification. Lakatos has represented Canada at three Summer Paralympics, and at the 2012 Games he won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events. In 2013 Lakatos reached the pinnacle of his sport when he collected four gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and became world champion at his classification in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
Evgeny Shvetsov is a Paralympian track and field athlete from Russia competing mainly in category T36 sprint and middle-distance events. A triple gold medal winner at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Shvetcov set three world records in his class between 2012 and 2013.
Svetlana Sergeeva in Kargopol, Arkhangelsk Oblast is a Paralympian athlete from Russia, competing mainly in category T37 throwing and sprint events. She competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China and the 2012 Games in London. At the London Games she won a track gold as part of the sprint relay and has also achieved success as an individual athlete at both World and European events.
Ahmad Almutairi is a Kuwaiti para-sport athlete who competes as a T33 classification track and field athlete and as a wheelchair basketball player, both at national level. Despite the fact that Almutairi held the Paralympic world record for his classification in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events, major world titles eluded him due to the fact that his classification was under-represented and he was forced to compete against less severely disabled athletes in the T44 class. He eventually won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
