Polish athletes are amongst the medal favourites for their home International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) World Alpine and Nordic Skiing Championships, which get underway in Zakopane on Tuesday (27 February).

Sixty skiers from nine countries will compete for honours until 2 March. Amongst them are Poland’s Patryk Jakiela, Michał Krzanowski and Jerzy Krzanowski.

Jakiela is the defending champion in the men’s long distance cross country. He will be joined by the Krzanowskis for the 3x2km relay. The trio will try to repeat their gold medal winning performance from 2017 in Gourette, France.

“Our players are in great shape and are rightly mentioned among the favourites to win”, said Edward Jakieła, the coach of the cross-country team for ZSS Sprawni-Razem, the Polish Union of Sport Associations for People with Intellectual Impairments.

“We do not know how hard our competitors have worked this year and we look forward to the first trainings and competition in Zakopane.”

Poland will also be represented by alpine skier Zofia Dzięcioł who will face her rivals in slalom, giant slalom and super-G.

Catch Poland in action

The first events for Polish skiers begin on Tuesday. The men’s middle distance freestyle will be held at the Central Sports Center in Zakopane from 9.00am (CET). At the same time, alpine skiers will start the fight for medals in slalom on the slopes of the Suche-Ski Station. The Józef Piłsudski Zakopane Park will host the Opening Ceremony at 5.30pm.

The Championship is being organized by ZSS Sprawni-Razem. The honorary patrons of the event are the Marshal of the Lesser Voivodeshi the Head of the District in Zakopane,; the Mayor of the City of Zakopane; the Polish Paralympic Committee and the Polish Skiing Association (PZN). The media patrons are TVP Sport, TVP3 Kraków and www.niepelnosprawni.pl. Integration are also a patron.

Live results, updates and pictures will be available at World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on all competition days between 27 February – 2 March.

The hosts of the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Indoor Athletics Championships have revealed a 19-strong team of athletes who will go for titles in Val de Reuil, France, between 2-4 March.

The team will feature a series of world champions and medallists from indoor and outdoor athletics.

They include Gloria Agblemagnon who won gold at the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Athletics Championships in the women’s discus and hammer. Charles Antoine Kouakou will also compete having taken the men’s 200m title and bronze at the 2017 World Para Athletics Junior Championships in the 400m.

Marion Candelier will hope to continue her winning streak from the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Cross Country Championships in December, where she took double gold in the women’s short and long distance races.

Val de Reuil 2018 is expected to attract 100 athletes from 15 countries and will be held at the Jesse Owens Stadium. It follows on from the last edition in Ancona, Italy, in 2016.

It will feature athletes with an intellectual impairment (II1) as well two trial groups: II2 – for athletes with a more significant intellectual impairment, and II3 – for athletes with high-functioning autism.

Full French team:

Women

Gloria Agblemagnon

Aminata Camara

Marion Candelier

Danielle Delage

Virginie Dreux

Laurie Brandell

Men

Rashid Boutasghount

Renaud Breuk

Saby Chelvalme

Abdoulaye Coulibaly

Quentin Foratier

Gael Geoffroy

Charles Antoine Kouakou

Florian Lariviere

Sebastian Mengual

Johan Roigt

Daniel Royer

Damien Rumeau

Nicolas Virapin

The International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) has launched a search for committed, experienced individuals who want to make a difference through sport.

Volunteer members and Chairpersons are needed for World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ rowing, tennis, table tennis and swimming committees. These groups are responsible for development and growth across all regions, as well as competition management, classification and building relationships with partners.

The deadline for applications for all positions is 9 March. In depth role descriptions and more information is available at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport vacancies page.

Volunteer positions at World Intellectual Impairment Sport

A Chairperson is needed for the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Table Tennis Committee. This crucial role, within a sport on the Paralympic programme, will provide leadership to the committee in line with the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Strategic Plan and Governing Board.

The person will also coordinate and manage the sport’s competition programme and work to grow participation, working with the Executive Director.

In addition members are wanted for the table tennis, rowing, swimming and tennis committees.

An Americas region member is needed for the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis Committee whilst swimming require representatives for Europe, Asia and Africa.

Table tennis and rowing are new committees and therefore members with relevant knowledge are encouraged to apply. Each person will take on responsibility for key areas based on their experience.

All applicants must have an excellent understanding and passion for sport for athletes with intellectual impairments. They should also have an in-depth knowledge of the relevant sport, and good leadership, organisational, communication and administrative skills.

Further information

Whilst each position is unpaid, costs of attending competitions will be covered. This offers successful applicants the chance to travel as part of their role. Meetings of each committee are often held via video conference.

All applications must be endorsed by the relevant World Intellectual Impairment Sport Member, who have to be in good standing.

More information is available at World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ vacancies page.

The International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) has opened the bidding process for the 2023 Global Games, the sixth edition of its quadrennial multi-sport event.

Attracting more than 1,000 competitors, the Global Games are the world’s biggest gathering of elite athletes with intellectual impairments.

Featuring sports such as athletics, swimming, table tennis, futsal, hockey, indoor and outdoor rowing, road cycling, taekwondo and tennis, organisers can also submit applications for demonstration sports.

The event always takes place in the year ahead of the Paralympic Games. Many medallists have used the Global Games as a springboard, going onto make the podium at the Paralympics.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport President Marc Truffaut said: “The Global Games are our biggest, most prestigious event and one that is constantly growing in size and profile.

“They act as the World Championships for each sport in that year and for the non-Paralympic sports on the programme, it is the highest level those athletes can compete at.

“For organisers there are huge opportunities in staging an event of such importance, not least the chance to create a genuine legacy and attract attention from all over the world.

“With the next edition in Brisbane, Australia, in 2019 expected to raise the bar once again, we are looking for organisers who can take the Games to the next level.

“We look forward to receiving bids from World Intellectual Impairment Sport members who can demonstrate how their knowledge, experience, infrastructure and passion for sport could help them to deliver the best Global Games yet.”

How to bid

Countries wishing to host in 2023 must first submit an expression of interest by 30 April 2018. Candidates will then be announced on 31 May before formal bids are accepted up until 31 January 2018.

All bids will be reviewed by the Global Games Committee and the successful host announced in June 2019.

As part of the bid process, applicants must submit their plans in key areas such as facilities and transport; anti-doping; accommodation; media and digital media; marketing and branding; venues; legacy; staffing and budgets.

They must also be able to provide letters of support from national or local government and the national or local sports authority.

More information, including the expression of interest form and bid documents, can be found on the Global Games page.

 

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) announced on Monday (22 January) that almost 14,000 elementary schools in Japan – around 65 per cent of the total – have already registered for the selection process of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic mascots.

In December 2017, Tokyo 2020 published a shortlist of mascot design sets, each containing an Olympic and a Paralympic mascot. They invited schoolchildren across the country and in Japanese schools overseas to vote for their favourite set. As of Monday there is exactly one month until voting closes. The design set attracting the largest number of votes will be declared the winner on 28 February.

The 13,985 schools that have registered to vote so far include a total of 92 Japanese schools. These are in 51 countries and regions overseas. Tokyo 2020 is expecting to receive additional submissions in the final month.

“It was a wonderful opportunity that kids got to choose the mascots. I had fun with my classmates, hearing what they thought about the mascots too,” said Colette Schmidt, a fifth grader at the American School in Japan who voted last Thursday.

Masa Takaya, Tokyo 2020 Spokesperson, said: “The mascot voting is going very well, actually even better than we expected. The number of participating schools keeps growing, but more importantly, we have received positive responses from the children. At every school we have been to, we saw children being completey focused on their mission and feeling involved in the 2020 Games’ preparation. Their memories of this unique experience will be another legacy of Tokyo 2020, as we are aiming to engage a new generation in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.”

About Tokyo 2020

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will take place from 25 August – 6 September. Three sports – swimming, athletics and table tennis – will feature athletes with intellectual impairments.