In total, 23 athletes and ten officials will be staying in the Olympic Lodge based at the famous facility where the seeds of the Paralympics were sown in 1948 when German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman organised sporting events for injured World War Two veterans rehabilitating at the local hospital.

The athletes set to attend the training camp will be competing in athletics, archery judo and powerlifting.

Azerbaijan's Paralympic attaché Ramin Kasamanski said that the camp will be a huge benefit to their Paralympic preparations.

"We are so pleased that our athletics are able to train at Stoke Mandeville Stadium," said Kasamanski.


"Given the high level of equipment and quality service, I think they will find this time extremely beneficial to their Paralympics preparations."

Azerbaijan made its Games debut at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and has won a total of 15 medals to date.

They finished in 38th place on the medal table at Beijing 2008 with a total of ten medals, two of which were gold won by judoka Ilham Zakiyev (pictured above in blue) and shot putter Olokhan Musayev (pictured below).

Zakiyev will be one of the stars training in Stoke Mandeville and the visually impaired 23-year-old will be looking to claim his third consecutive Paralympic gold at London 2012 after winning the +100 kg division at the previous two Games in Athens and Beijing.

Ian Seabrook, the business development manager at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, also welcomed the move.


"We're really looking forward to the arrival of the Azerbaijan team and are confident they will enjoy training with us due to the fact we have some of the best facilities in the United Kingdom," he said.

"The Saudi powerlifting team, the Finnish athletics and wheelchair rugby squads and the Icelandic athletics and swimmers have all trained at Stoke Mandeville Stadium."

Disability sport is becoming more popular in Azerbaijan while the capital city, Baku, is currently bidding for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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