The BT Paralympic World Cup was created to provide an annual World Class Multi-Sport Disability Event for elite international athletes, bridging the gap between the four yearly Paralympic Games.

In conjunction with the International Paralympic Committee and ParalympicsGB, four sports - Athletics, Swimming, Track Cycling and Wheelchair Basketball have been staged each year in Manchester since the Paralympic World Cup’s inception in 2005.

In their first year as headline sponsor, BT ensured the event was grown in both size and stature; this year extended programmes in the Track Cycling and Swimming competitions meant a stage was provided for over 400 of the World’s top athletes to compete over six days in the most challenging multisport competition outside the Paralympic Games.

At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics over 270 medals were won by BT Paralympic World Cup athletes. As the athletes embark on the next Olympic Cycle towards London 2012 the BT PWC witnessed eight world records claimed across the sports.

The BBC, as host broadcaster, provided nail-biting global coverage live from the Aquatics Centre in their national and international highlights package, and partners UK Sport, Manchester City Council and the Northwest Regional Development Agency worked together to ensure Manchester hosted yet another year of exciting Paralympic Sport.

The BT Paralympic World Cup has reasserted its position in the International Calendar as providing world class competition and a platform for British Athletes to showcase disability sport in the biggest multi-sport competition outside the Paralympic Games.