UK Athletics announced yesterday that a meeting featuring some of the stars from last year's Paralympics will be held on the climax of a three-day event to celebrate the first anniversary of London 2012 at the Olympic Stadium.

The event will take place from July 26 to 28 with the Paralympic competition to follow two days of Diamond League athletics to make up the Games.

The Paralympic meeting on July 28 falls on the same day as the last day of competition at the IPC World Athletics Championships, however.

The Championships in Lyon is due to take place from July 19 until 28, with the blue-ribbon marathon T54 races coming on the final day.

Should Weir choose to do the marathon T54, a race in which he is the Paralympic champion, it would rule him out of the London Anniversary Games.

The clash will also rule other leading Paralympic names out of the Olympic Stadium event, including Australia's Kurt Fearnley, the reigning marathon T54 world champion.

On the women's side, it also means that the likes of Britain's Shelly Woods will miss out as the marathon T54 is one of her strongest events and the race in which she won a silver medal at London 2012.


The IPC have also made it clear that athletes that do not compete in Lyon will be ineligible to take part at the London Anniversary Games.

"The IPC expects athletes to prioritise the World Championships," IPC media and communications director Craig Spence.

"Athletes who do not compete in Lyon will not be allowed to take part in London.

"It clashes with the marathon so London, at this stage, is unlikely to feature T54 races."

UK Athletics have also confirmed that the World Championships will be their priority.

"The IPC World Championships are the first priority for all of our athletes," a UK Athletics spokesperson told insidethegames.

"But many want to do both and will fly home after their events to take part in London."

Although it would be a major blow for the London Anniversary Games to lose Weir, who proved the star of the London 2012 Paralympics by claiming four gold medals, a number of high profile athletes are scheduled to attend, including double Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, who won the T34 100 and 200 metres titles at the Games.

But the chance for Weir to compete in London could come if he chooses not to participate in the marathon event, and concentrate only on the track programme.


He did not compete in the marathon at the last IPC World Championships in 2011 in Christchurch but only after being forced out of the event in highly controversial circumstances.

Weir had won three gold medals on the track in the 800m, 1500m and 5,000m T54 and was set to go for his fourth gold in the marathon on the last day of the Championships in New Zealand but was pulled out of the marathon by UK Athletics minutes before the race after organisers left the course open to traffic.

All the British athletes, as well as all the Canadian athletes, were withdrawn by their teams over safety fears, with Fearnley going on to take victory but expressing his disappointment that some of his main rivals had not taken part.

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