Action at the Paralympic Athletics competitions will kick off Monday morning (September 8) at the National Stadium, with four gold medals on offer before lunch.
Medals will be decided from four different classifications, including the Women's Javelin - F42-46 (ambulant athletes with different levels of amputations and other disabilities). The local crowd will be hoping that the strong contingent of Chinese competitors are represented on the dais, but they will face tough opposition from three German athletes and the youngest female Athletics competitor, Hollie Arnold of Great Britain. The 14-year-old Briton also hopes to strike gold.
But the strongest challenges in Javelin are likely to come from Marjaana Vare of Finland, Natalie Gudkova of the Russian Federation and Andrea Hegen of Germany, the winners of the gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.
More Athens medalists will be in action in the other women's morning final, the Shot Put - F54-56 (wheelchair athletes with different levels of spinal cord injuries and amputations). Eva Kacanu of Czech Republic, Tatiana Majcen Ljubic of Slovenia and Germans Marrianne Buggenhagen and Monika Martina Willing will all be looking to add to their silverware from Athens.
Buggenhagen has plenty of experience, and is the oldest female Athletics competitor at the Beijing Games.
In the men's competition, medals will be decided in the Men's Discus Throw - F55-56 (wheelchair athletes with different levels of spinal cord injuries and amputations) and the Men's Triple Jump - F12 (athletes with differing levels of visual impairment).
The Discus will see some tough competition between proven performers Martin Nemec (CZE), Miroslav Sperk (CZE) and Tanto Campbell of Jamaica. Nemec is the world record holder, 39.35 meters, in his F55 class. But he will be up against tough competition including the world record holder in the F56 class, Leonardo Diaz of Cuba, who has a personal best of 39.90.
The Triple Jump will see Aliaksandr Kouzmichou of Belarus and Ivan Kytsenko of Ukraine looking to add to their respective Athens silver and bronze medals. All the competitors will be hoping to better the world record, 15.30, set in Athens.
(BOCOG September 7, 2008)