By Gary Anderson

Marlou van Rhijn of the Netherlands will be one of the athletes competing in Berlin this weekend ©AFP/Getty ImagesBerlin will stage the next International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Grand Prix tour event with the final regular-season meeting of the year expected to see 570 athletes from 34 countries competing over three days.

With the European Championships in Swansea just two months away, many of the athletes on show at the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sports Park will be using the event, which starts tomorrow and is due to last until Sunday (June 22), to continue preparations for that event.

Others, meanwhile, will also be keen to finish the season on a high before the Grand Prix Final in Birmingham on August 25.

The home crowd will be hoping for some German success and will be looking to the likes of Marianne Buggenhagen, Martina Willing and Marc Schuh to deliver the goods.

Buggenhagen and Willing, who took gold and silver in the women's F54/55/56 discus at last year's World Championships in Lyon, will battle it out again.

Another silver medal winner from Lyon, Schuh will be expected to push Finland's Paralympic and world champion Leo-Pekka Tahti all the way in the men's T54 400 metres having already beaten him in Nottwill earlier this year.

World silver medallist Frank Tinnemeier is another home athlete who will be challenging for top honours but he faces a tough battle against reigning Paralympic and world champion Aled Davies of Great Britain in the F42 shot put.

Davies set a world record of 48.69 metres during his previous Grand Prix outing in Grosseto last month.

Marc Schuh will be one of the home athletes looking to impress in Berlin ©Getty Images Marc Schuh will be one of the home athletes looking to impress in Berlin ©Getty Images



Marlou van Rhijn of The Netherlands is another European who will be out to impress as she prepares to defend her T43/T44 100 metres title in Swansea.

The Paralympic and world champion set a world record 12.96sec in Berlin last year but will face competition from compatriots Marlene van Gansewinkel and Iris Pruysen, as well as Britain's Stef Reid.

Away from European rivalries, Brazil will have strong representation in other sprint events where they are once again expected to occupy the podium places.

Former Paralympic gold medallist and current world champion and world record holder Lucas Prado will be up against compatriots Daniel Silva and Felipe Gomes in the T11 100m and 200m.

World Championship bronze medal winner Silva got the better of Prado earlier this year at the Grand Prix meeting in São Paulo.

Paralympic and world champion Terezinha Guilhermina will renew her rivalry with Jerusa Santos and Jhulia Santos both trying to reverse the results from London 2012 and Lyon last year which saw them finish behind the veteran sprinter.

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