By Emily Goddard

jonnie peacock 101413April 10 - Jonnie Peacock, the Briton who stormed to gold in the T44 100 metres at London 2012, has claimed that the scrapping of the BT Paralympic World Cup is more of a positive than a negative.

As insidethegames exclusively revealed in January, the event, which was the largest annual international multisport competition for disability sport, was ditched in favour of plans for new disability events.

The BT Paralympic World Cup had been staged in Manchester since 2005 after being formed by the British Paralympic Association (BPA) in collaboration with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and, although Peacock, a single leg amputee, said it was "gutting" to lose the event, he took the news on the chin.

"This year I had an ankle operation a few months ago, and I'm just coming back into it now, it's just about getting settled," he said from his training camp in Florida.

"I'm just going to do as much as I can this year and take whatever happens.

"I cross each bridge as it comes and that's how I live my life."

In place of the BT Paralympic World Cup, the IPC launched a new Grand Prix, which features a series of global meetings in the style of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League.

The BT Paralympic World Cup was scrapped in favour of plans for new disability eventsThe BT Paralympic World Cup, whose used Jonnie Peacock in their advertising campaign last year, was scrapped in favour of plans for new disability events

On Monday (April 8) Birmingham in Britain was confirmed as the host city for the new series finals with the event due to be held at the Alexander Stadium on June 29, while meets are also taking place in Dubai, Beijing,  São Paulo, Grosseto, Arizona and Berlin.

In addition, it was announced that Paralympic athletes will be eligible to compete at the Great CityGames Manchester for the first time in the event history at this year's competition on May 25.

Some of the big names from last year's Paralympics will also compete at a special competition to celebrate the first anniversary of London 2012 at the Olympic Stadium on July 28.

With such opportunities now on offer for Paralympic athletes, Peacock insisted that the scrapping of the BT Paralympic World Cup was not all bad news.

"It's a little bit gutting [to lose the BT Paralympic World Cup] but at the same time you've the Manchester Great CityGames, the Birmingham Grand Prix, the Anniversary Games, several fantastic opportunities to race the world class," he said.

"So instead of just that one now we've got three or four.

"It's more a positive than a negative."

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