The Italian Federation of Paralympic and Experimental Sports (FISPES) made the squad announcement today, which also included veteran wheelchair sprinter Alvise De Vidi as team captain.

The 47-year-old De Vidi brings a wealth of experience to the squad, having competed in every Paralympic Games since Seoul 1988, where he won gold in the swimming pool in the 1A 25m butterfly event. 

Since transferring his skills to the track, he has amassed a further 13 Paralympic medals, including seven gold, and a silver medal in the T51 100m from London 2012.

Another Paralympic champion, F11 discus thrower and world record holder Assunta Legnante will compete at Lyon, along with T46 London Marathon winner Alessandro di Lello, who will compete in that event in Lyon, where the Championships are due to take place between July 19 and 28.

Italian coach Mario Poletti said: "The squad has been selected based on the excellent results obtained at the international level.

Veteran wheelchair sprinter Alvise De Vidi will captain the Italian team in Lyon

"All our athletes have shown to be in top shape and are ready to perform at their best at the world championships."

Sprinter Caironi has been in stunning form recently, bettering her 100m world record twice in two months on home track at the Italian Athletics Championships in Grosseto and at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Golden Gala meeting in Rome, where she clocked a time of 15.18sec.

And Poletti confirmed his confidence in the abilities of the 23-year-old to perform to the same high level in Lyon.

"Undoubtedly we have huge confidence on Caironi, who has had a brilliant preparation leading to the championships, having beaten her previous world record in the 100m speciality, on Legnante in the women's shot put F11, on Oxana Corso in the 100m and 200m T35 and on [Annalisa] Minetti participating in the 800m T11 only," he said.

"We expect good results from De Vidi, who set the Italian record last week with 21.97 at the Italian clubs championships of Garbagnate Milanese in the men's 100m T51 and has good chances to get on the podium, and from Di Lello who will try to confirm his marathon victory obtained in London early this year."

There are also two debutants in the squad: F20 women's shot put thrower Patrizia Fedato and T20 long jumper Ruud Koutiki Tsilulu, who will compete after their events were officially entered into the World Championships schedule.

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