Wilber joins a stellar line-up of speakers from the world of high performance Para-athletics, all of whom will present on the theme "Destination Rio 2016 - preparing for prime performance".

He will speak on the topic of "The Junior Elite Athlete: Physiological Characteristics and Training Considerations". 

"It is indeed a great honour and I am looking forward to presenting at the first-ever Para-athletics coaching conference," said Wilber, who plies his trade at the US Olympic Training Centre.

"I congratulate the IPC on organising this conference, which I predict will grow in popularity among the IPC Athletics community in the years to come."

Wilber has been at the USOC for 23 years, working closely with numerous Team USA coaches and athletes such as 18-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps, 11-time World Championship-winning swimmer Missy Franklin, and two-time Olympic gold medal-winning short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno.

His work has focused on areas of altitude training, heat and humidity acclimatisation, blood chemistry analysis, over-training, international air travel, and exercise-induced asthma.

"Although there are some unique physical challenges in working with Para-athletes, many things are no different versus able-bodied athletes," said Wilber.

"For example, in my area of physiology, 'over-training' is a big problem among both able-bodied and Para-athletes.

"And therefore, the strategies for preventing over-training are essentially the same for both."

Among the key messages Wilber hopes his attendees will take away are the importance of diversification over specialisation for junior elite athletes, as well as identifying "late bloomers", and how to nurture passion from athletes.

Joining him as keynote speakers are 14-time Paralympic gold medal-winning wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc of Canada, and vice-president of Paralympics Ireland Liam Moggan.

Petitclerc, who will be Team Canada's Chef de Mission at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, was awarded the IPC International Women's Day Recognition Award in March.

She will speak about athlete perspectives in advances in training and coaching, while Moggan, who is currently serving as a coach education developer at Coaching Ireland, will discuss the effects and importance of psychology for Para-athletes.

The fourth and final keynote speaker is due to be announced at a later date.

Also scheduled to talk at the conference are the head coach of The Netherlands’ Para-athletics team Guido Bonsen, along with Lawrence Judge, national chairman of the USA Track and Field for coaches education, and Brazil's Ciro Winckler, a professor of physical education at the Federal University of São Paulo.

Targeted at high performance directors, national coaches, classifiers and team support staff, the conference will also include panel discussions and workshops.

Registration for the event is now open and can be accessed by clicking here.



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