The results, which measured sport participation from October 2012 to October 2013, show that 123,800 people now regularly take part in athletics each week, up by 13,300 from last year.

"It's great to see that more disabled people are getting involved in athletics and hopefully this will continue for a long time," said double Paralympic and world champion Hannah Cockroft, who is on the short list for the BBC's Sport's Personality of the Year Award.

"It's also great to see that Sport England's increased investment in promoting grassroots participation is proving so effective in harnessing the inspiration of elite performances.

"It shows that London 2012 had a real impact on people, attitudes are changing and disability sport is really growing."

A sell-out crowd watched Paralympians compete on the third day of the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games showing the increased popularity of disabled sport in the UK
©Getty images



The results mark the end of a great year for UK athletics, and Para-athletics in particular, as it saw the inaugural Sainsbury's International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) Athletics Grand Prix Final in Birmingham in June and the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium the following month both receiving prime time broadcast coverage.

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