Wednesday morning's session will see the final gold medals awarded for the Athletics at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. The medals will be decided in five categories of the Marathon.
The marathons start in front of the National Museum, on the east side of Tiananmen Square, and will finish in the National Stadium. The 42.195km route passes the Temple of Heaven, the China National Grand Theatre, the Capital Gymnasium, Beijing University, Qinghua University and the Olympic Sports Centre.
Men's Marathon - T12
The 26 competitors will be chasing the 18-year-old World Record (2:32.43) of Waldamar Kikolski of Poland.
Men's Marathon - T46
It will be tightly contested by 14 entrants. World Record holder Javier Conde of Spain will be hoping to secure the gold by scraping some time from his personal best, 2:31.15.
Men's Marathon - T52
Men's Marathon - T52 may have only a small field but every racer has a chance of securing a medal. The Athens gold medalist Takada Toskihiro of Japan and bronze medalist Clayton Gerein of Canada will be two of the favorites heading into the event. But no one will discount the silver medalist from four years ago, Thomas Geierspichler of Austria, who is the reigning world record holder (1:43.45).
Men's Marathon - T54
A field of 40 competitors will be looking to stop Kurt Fearnley of Australia from winning back-to-back golds. Athens bronze medalist Tomasz Hamerlak of Poland and a strong contingent from Great Britain are the most likely contenders to knock Fearnley from the top position. But it will have to be an outstanding performance to unsettle the 11-year-old world record (1:20.14) of Heinz Frei of Switzerland - something even Frei (who has 20 Paralympic medals and five Winter Paralympic medals) is unlikely to do.
Women's Marathon - T54
The reigning world record holder Francesca Porcellato of Italy is likely to battle it out with the Athens silver medalist Wakako Tsuchida of Japan and Cheri Blauwet of United States for top honors. The women will have to really push themselves if they are to get close to Porcellato's best time of 1:38.29.
(BOCOG.com September 16, 2008)