Swansea Awarded 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships

The IPC Athletics European Championships is heading to Great Britain for the first time after Swansea in Wales secured the 2014 edition of the event.

Around 600 athletes from 40 countries will compete in the event which will be staged at Swansea University between 18 and 23 August 2014. It will be the first major international multi-day para-athletics event to be held in Great Britain following the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The successful bid, adiposity submitted by Swansea University was based on a strong partnership approach involving the Welsh Government, the City and County of Swansea, Disability Sport Wales and British Athletics.

Xavier Gonzalez, the IPC’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted and excited that Swansea will host some of the world’s leading and emerging para-athletes when it hosts the 2014 European Championships.

“This is another major event to add to the rapidly growing IPC Athletics calendar and will help build on the momentum of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the most successful ever.

Ed Warner, IPC Athletics Sport Technical Committee Chairperson, said: “Athletes want to compete in major events, and this European Championships will give some of this continent’s best and emerging athletes the opportunity to sample high level competition.

“At IPC Athletics we are capitalising on the success of London 2012 by building a strong pathway of events through to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and beyond.

“We now have World Championships in place through to 2017, a number of Grand Prix organised for 2013 and the first IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup set for this April in London.

“Swansea 2014 joins this growing list of events and we are optimistic that we will be able to announce the host city of the 2016 European Championships in the near future.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, said: “This is fantastic news for disability sport in the UK. The London 2012 Paralympic Games demonstrated that the British public have a big appetite for disability sport and this event will provide them with a further excellent opportunity to see elite level disability sport.

“The success of the Swansea bid means our athletes will have the opportunity to compete at an elite level on home soil once again in 2014, and I am confident that this event will form a crucial part of their preparations for Rio in 2016. It also provides the British public with an opportunity once again to show their support British athletes as they take on the best in the world.

“This winning bid, which comes just a few months after Glasgow won the right to host the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, will contribute towards a growing number of world-class international disability sport competitions which will be held in the UK following London 2012.”