Sports

The BT Paralympic World Cup has brought the World's top athletes into one city for the biggest annual multi-sport disability competition since its conception in 2005.

In 2012 the BT Paralympic World Cup brings together the much loved sports of Athletics, Football 7-a-side and Wheelchair Basketball for another action packed line up of activity. In addition to this, Boccia and Sitting Volleyball will stage International Matches for the second year. Click here to check out this year’s competition schedule.

Team Concept

For the third time in Paralympic Sport, BT Paralympic World Cup athletes will be competing for their team: Great Britain, the Americas, Europe and the Rest of the World. The concept was a great success in previous years with all the athletes and even the spectators joining in the fun and getting behind their team.

Athletes will once again be battling it out for their team not only to win the individual sport competition, but to score enough points to take home the second ever BT Paralympic World Cup Trophy which will be presented after the last competition.

Last year, the team from Great Britain took home the trophy and will no doubt be back in 2012 to defend their title through tough competition.

Sport Categories

Athletes will compete from five disability categories with athletes grouped according to their different level of impairment.

Amputee

This includes athletes who have at least one major joint in a limb missing, for example the elbow, wrist, knee or ankle.

Cerebral palsy

This is a disorder of movement and posture due to damage to an area, or areas, of the brain that control and coordinate muscle tone, reflexes, posture and movement.

Wheelchair

Generally athletes compete in this category if they have at least 10% loss of function in their lower limbs. Common conditions include traumatic paraplegia and quadriplegia, spina bifida, poliomyelitis, amputees, cerebral palsy and all non ambulant les autres athletes.

Vision Impaired

Athletes come under this classification if they have any condition which interferes with "normal" vision.This incorporates the entire range of vision difficulties from correctable conditions through to total blindness.

Les Autres

This French term for "the others" is used to describe athletes with a range of conditions, such as dwarfism, that don't fit into the traditional classification systems of the established groups.