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 the British Paralympic Association, four sports have been staged each year in Manchester since the Paralympic World Cup’s inception in 2005. Last year the core sports comprised of Athletics, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball with International Match also being staged in  Boccia for the first time. Football 7-a-side will replace Swimming to complete the lineup in 2012 with Boccia also confirmed to stage International Match.

2011 was the third year which BT were the headline sponsor. Since they joined the event it has grown in both size and stature. 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 Paralympic World Cup hopes to see more records broken and more athlete success stories this year.

2011 saw 279 athletes from 37 countries compete in the BT PWC where 192 medals were presented. Last year’s event also saw three world records broken in the athletic competition.

2012 is the third year since the team concept has been introduced. All competing athletes are split into four teams: Great Britain, Europe, the Americas and the Rest of the World, where they would compete not only as individuals but accumulate points for their team too. Great Britain were victorious and took the BT Paralympic World Cup trophy in the 2011 competition.

Channel 4 will once again be the host broadcaster covering the 2012 event. This adds again an exciting dimension to the BT Paralympic World Cup and will provide the event with the strongest broadcast coverage it has ever received on UK television.

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