The French city will stage the prestigious competition from July 19 until 28 next year and they recently met with IPC representatives for a series of inspections.

The visit saw the IPC given a tour of the Stadium of Parilly, the venue for the Championships which is located in 178 hectares of parkland to the south east of the city in the Rhones-Alpes region.

Ahead of the Championships, organisers plan to build temporary stands at the venue to increase capacity for spectators and are looking at hosting the marathon on a seven kilometre loop road within the surroundings of Parc Parilly.

The IPC delegation was also given a tour of the city, which is a World Heritage site, and shown a number of hotels where it is proposed teams will be accommodated during the Championships.

There were also discussions about the look and feel of the event, transport, marketing and communications.

Following the inspection, Organising Committee vice-president Laurent Allard predicted one of the best World Championships ever.

"We are determined to make these the most welcoming World Championships ever for athletes and staff," Allard said.

"We want to create the best sporting conditions so that athletes can perform to the best of their ability and show the public the value of Paralympic sport.

"This will be the first international sporting event to be held at the Stadium of Parilly and we hope to change perceptions in French society of what can be achieved by a person with an impairment."


Lyon was awarded the event in December as the sole bidders for it while it will be the sixth IPC World Championships after Berlin first hosted the competition back in 1998.

Around 1,300 athletes from 90 countries are expected to take part in the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, including all the top stars from the London 2012 Paralympics.

"We are now 15 months away from the start of the Championships and I was impressed with the level of planning and detail that the Local Organising Committee has put in so far," IPC athletics manager Ryan Montgomery said.

"The venue is great and located in a beautiful park whilst the city is totally stunning.

"Our athletes cannot fail to be impressed.

"Between now and July next year, the key for the Organising Committee is to make the planning become a reality.

"If they do that then the athletes coming here can expect an excellent World Championships."

Christchurch in New Zealand staged the last World Championships in January last year in an event that attracted over 1,000 athletes from 80 countries.

China led the standings with 21 gold and 58 total medals, while Russia finished second and Brazil joint third alongside Britain.

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