The ParAthletics event, scheduled to start tomorrow and end on Sunday (May 31), is widely regarded as one of the most competitive wheelchair racing meetings in the world, with 11 world records falling there last year.

It will provide a number of top athletes with an ideal opportunity to test themselves against their rivals ahead of October’s IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha.

One of the highlights on the men’s side looks set to be the 100 metres T34 event, with the line-up including all eight finalists from the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships.

Australia's Oceanic record holder Rheed McCracken will be looking to challenge Tunisia's Paralympic and world champion Walid Ktila, as will Switzerland's European record holder Bojan Mitic, and the Asian record holder Mohamed Hammadi of the United Arab Emirates.

As for the 1,500m T53/54 event, home favourite and multiple world and European champion Marcel Hug takes on Great Britain’s four-time Paralympic champion David Weir.

The pair raced over one mile in the streets of London last Sunday (May 24) and it was Weir who came out on top clocking a superb time of 3min 02.21sec, just outside the sub-three minute barrier he had been targeting.

Out in the field, world gold medallist Mohamad Mohamad of Syria will be looking to build on his impressive Grand Prix form as he contests the shot put F55-57.

The 31-year-old set a new world record of 44.00m in the javelin F57 at the season opener in Dubai, while last month in São Paulo, he threw 13.60m in the shot put to top the 2015 world rankings.

Meanwhile on the women’s side, five of the eight 800m T53 finalists from the 2013 World Championships in Lyon will line up.

Australian duo Angela Ballard and Madison de Rozario won silver and bronze respectively at Lyon 2013, while the United States’ Shirley Reilly won marathon gold, 5,000m silver and 1,500m bronze at London 2012.

Another American to watch out for is Amanda McGrory, who won the 800m world title in 2006 and again in 2011, and more recently clinched bronze at last month’s World Marathon Championships in London.

Multiple world and Paralympic champion Tatyana McFadden, also from the US, will be the one to beat in the 1,500m T53/54.

The 26-year-old made history in 2013 when she became the first woman to win six world titles at one World Championships, including the 1,500m.

But the rest of the field is extremely strong too, with the holders of the European, Asian and Oceanian records all present.

Japan's Wakako Tsuchida finished second behind McFadden in the 1,500m in Lyon, while home favourite and European champion Manuela Schaer will be out to impress the local crowds.

Elsewhere, Italy's Martina Caironi, Germany's Vanessa Low and The Netherlands' Iris Pruysen all line up in the long jump T20, T42/44.

Pruysen and Caironi are the reigning T44 and T42 world champions respectively, while European title holder Low set a new T42 world record of 4.60m at the Grand Prix Final in Birmingham last August.

Caironi hit the headlines earlier this month when she equalled that record at a meeting in Barcelona.


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