To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, the International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) has announced the first athlete and administrator #SportChampions who will take part in its #WeAreSport project in 2018.

Through the programme, World Intellectual Impairment Sport aims to help female athletes to use social and other media to show their life as a high performance sportsperson. This will make them more visible and raise their profile so that they can become role models for the next generation.

In addition, the project will train administrators from World Intellectual Impairment Sport members in how to develop pathways to get more women and girls with intellectual impairments into sport.

So far South Korea, Argentina, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ecuador and Australia have officially signed up. The athletes nominated are some the brightest young stars from each country including Paralympians and World Intellectual Impairment Sport world champions.

Egypt, the USA, South Africa, France, Thailand, India and Sweden have also expressed an interest in taking part, and are going through the nomination process.

Applications are still open as World Intellectual Impairment Sport aims to recruit 20 athletes and the same number of administrators in total.

London 2012 Paralympic champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist Jessica-Jane Applegate will be the face of #WeAreSport.

As one of the world’s best swimmers, the 21-year-old is a great example of how female athletes can use social media to promote themselves. With nearly 50,000 followers across platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, Applegate shares updates about her training and competitions and regularly engages with her fans.

Describing some of the challenges in sport for athletes with intellectual impairments, Applegate said:

“Getting into sport is easy but staying in sport is really hard. Anyone can turn up to a session and give it a go but what I found difficult was that I looked the same as everyone else so everyone else expected so much more from me.

“I couldn’t understand lots of the instructions and couldn’t communicate back how or what I didn’t understand. It takes me a lot longer to learn new things and unless you have support from your coaches and club members it’s a huge stress and struggle.

“Many clubs and coaches are trained now to support children just like me and it’s really important that we all have that equal opportunity to join in. There are not enough learning disabled girls in sports so there’s a huge gap in the competitions.

“I would love to see more girls competing and am happy to help any of them.”

Robyn Smith, World Intellectual Impairment Sport Vice President, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome the first athletes and administrators who will take part in #WeAreSport. It is so important that we give both groups the tools to develop themselves and sport for women and girls in their countries.

“Jessica-Jane has perfectly described some of the issues faced by countries in developing their programmes. This includes barriers unique to areas of sport for athletes with intellectual impairments, such as a lack of understanding around their needs. We also need more role models to inspire the next generation.

“The project aims to start to address the gender imbalance that exists across the world, both at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport and Paralympic level. In turn that will increase the depth of field at competitions and make our sports more competitive all-round.

“We know that it can be a challenge for countries to find ways of including athletes with intellectual impairments and for athletes to promote themselves. But these are obstacles worth overcoming and ones that we are firmly aiming to address.”

The first activities for #WeAreSport will take place in June 2018 including a training webinar for the athletes and administrators. Each athlete will also receive a specially designed media pack containing their biography, pictures and graphics they can share on social media.

The administrators will be given materials and guidance to help them attract female athletes to try sports. As part of their commitment they will deliver at least one development workshop in their country for women and girls.

The project is mainly focused on Asia, Oceania and Africa but athletes and personnel from other regions will also be included.

Activities will climax on the 2018 International Day of Sport for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments on 20 September.

#WeAreSport is supported by a grant from the Agitos Foundation, the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee. It is co-funded by Sport Inclusion Australia.

Confirmed athlete #SportChampions

Hosts France stole the show on the final day of the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Indoor Athletics Championships in Val-De-Reuil on Sunday (4 March), winning two golds.

Marion Candelier (11:35.50) upgraded her silver medal from the 2016 indoor Championships to gold in the women’s 3,000m. Leading throughout Candelier grabbed her first gold, cheered on by her home crowds.

Portugal’s Melissa Cardoso (16:55.87) was second.

Nicolas Virapin claimed his fourth gold in the men’s 200m II2. He took the tape in 30.63 seconds to add to his wins from the triathlon, 60m and long jump from Friday and Saturday.

Russia rounded off their Championships with a further four golds on Sunday.

Pavel Sarkeev (8:56.22) was the victor in the men’s 3,000m. Sarkeev made his move at the halfway mark, opening up his stride to take a dominant win. Portugal’s Jose Azevedo (9:02.62) matched his performance from 2016 with silver. France’s Rachid Boutashgount (9:04.32) did the same, retaining his bronze.

Artem Muratov (22.44), the new title holder and world record holder in the men’s 400m II1, doubled his gold medal haul in the 200m. In a closely fought race, Muratov just edged France’s Charles Antoine Kouakou (22.54). Gracelino Barbosa (22.79), the sole representative of Cape Verde, claimed his third medal of the weekend with bronze.

Anastasiia Glushkova (26.50) took the tape in the women’s 200m II1 with an impressive run that saw her finish one second ahead of Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk (27.50). Czech Republic’s Veronika Skuhrovska (28.36) rounded-off the top three.

Concluding the competition and taking Russia’s medal total to four were Vladimir Samoliuk, Dmitri Makarov, Sarkeev and Muratov in the men’s 4x400m relay II1 (3:31.03).

Spain’s Fernando Batista, Franci Perez Carrera, Ruben Cortes and Jose Martinez Morote sealed the silver in 3:43.19.

The French team of Daniel Royer, Renaud Brelik, Saby Chevalme and Quentin Foratier (3:55.28) took bronze.

Two wins for Portugal to take team gold

Portugal bagged two golds medals to secure their place at the top of the women’s team standings with 54 points. They took 10 medals overall, finishing on the podium in all events. France were second with 36 points and Turkey third on 31 points.

Ana Filipe successfully defended her women’s long jump II1 title. Taking her first gold and fifth medal overall, the 18-year-old leapt 1.48m. Her teammate Claudia Santos (1.38m) was second ahead of Turkey’s Esra Bayrak (1.33m) with bronze.

Filipe also ran the anchor leg in the winning women’s 4x400m II1 relay, dipping in at 4:35.75. Compatriots Maria Fernandes, Santos and Raquel Cerqueira helped secure the gold.

Zuzana Svatkova, Teresa Titerova, Katarina Husakova and Skuhrovska (4:49.02) took silver for the Czech Republic.

Earlier in the women’s 800m II1, Husakova (2:27.83) made a successful break from the field to take victory. Completing the race in 2:27.83, Husakova was delighted with her performance, celebrating with a dance. Turkey’s Muhsine Gezer (2:29.58) tried to go with Husakova but settled for silver. Poland’s Agata Pitura (2:45.88) was third.

Poland’s Tycjan Kozdra cleared 1.81m in the men’s high jump II1 to secure the win. Two athletes, Norway’s Oivind Bjorn Berger and Spain’s Fernando Batista, jumped 1.68m and equalled each other’s jumps to both take silver. The podium is Berger’s second medal having taken gold in the pole vault on Saturday.

Spain finished on top of the men’s team standings with 64 points, mainly coming from an incredible seven golds. France just missed out on first place, ending with 63 points. Russia were third with 47 points.

Full results from all competition days are available.

The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Indoor Athletics Championships ran from 2-4 March. Around 70 athletes from 13 countries competed.

Russia, Japan and France have left the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) World Alpine and Nordic Skiing Championships with the majority of medals after competition concluded in Zakopane, Poland, on Friday (2 March).

Battling against very cold conditions dropping to as low as -15c, nearly 60 skiers from nine countries braved the slopes and trails in the hunt for world titles.

Russia opened their medal account on the first day of competition on Tuesday (27 February) in the cross-country skiing. The country blocked out the women’s 5km freestyle II1 podium and took a further two spots in the men’s 10km freestyle II1.

In the women’s, Elena Shchukina (18:39.0) opened her Championships with victory. Shchukina led two of her teammates onto the podium as Victoria Prokofeva (19:22.9) and Ekaterina Babaeva (20:20.1) were second and third, respectively.

The trio then swapped podium places the following day in the sprint classic. Prokofeva (3:59.9), Babaeva (3:45.8) and Shchukina (3:40.4) were first, second and third respectively.

Another Russian, Ivan Volegov, claimed gold in the men’s 10km in a time of 28:57.7 on Tuesday. Patryk Jakiela (29:20.1) handed the hosts their first medal of the competition with silver. Volegov’a compatriot Aleksandr Sorokin (29.42.17) completed the top three.

France’s Clement Colomby (20:47.6) secured gold in the men’s 10km freestyle II2 and sprint classic II2.

The sprints for II1 athletes took place on Wednesday (28 February) and delivered more gold for Russia.

Volegov (3:06.01) was quickest over the 1.2km course, beating Estonia’s defending champion Hans Teearu (2:51.3) into silver. Ivan Martiushev (2:52.2) grabbed another medal for Russia with bronze.

Poland were the defending champions in the men’s 3×2.5km relay but they proved to be no match for the Russians on Thursday (1 March).

Maksim Skurikhin, Volegov and Charushnikov (23:38.3) put on an impressive display. Skurikhin and Volegov’s first two legs were both under 8 minutes – the two quickest on the day.

The hosts’ Michal and Jerzy Krzanowsky and Jakiela (25:23.9) did still finish on the podium, taking silver.

France’s Yann Guebay, Dorian Traversaz and Gael Solomon (25:59.7) were third.

Babaeva and Prokofeva (21:46.1) kept up their 100 per cent podium record in the women’s 3×2.5km relay. The Japanese duo of Rena Aoyagi and Kei Nakazawa (26:57.6) were second.

In the mixed relay Shchukina, Martiusev and Sorokin (28:58.0) secured gold. They were followed by France’s Lea Thiroux, Stephane Kelkal and Solomon (29.47.3).

Aoyagi also competed in the mixed relay for Japan, taking bronze alongside Kohei Abe and Yutaro Murakoshi (32:00.3).

Rounding off the action were the long distance, mass start races on Friday.

In the women’s 10km freestyle II1 Shchukina (38:27.2) topped the podium once again, bringing her gold medal total to two. Sweden’s Kristin Bjorfeldt (42:30.2) was second ahead of France’s Thiroux (46:49.7) in third.

Poland’s Jakiela (44:59.8) retained his title in the men’s 15km freestyle II1, much to the delight of his home crowds. Teearu (45:28.8) was second and Charushnikov (45:48.9) third.

Alpine skiing

Opening the action on Tuesday was the slalom and if Russia dominated the cross-country skiing, the alpine belonged to Japan and France.

France’s Melania De Bonna (1:20.10) successfully defended her title in the women’s II1 with two leading runs.

Turkey’s Kader Yavus Ayse (1:24.28) was second, followed by Czech Republic’s Denisa Macurova (1:24.65).

De Bonna (1:16.97) retained her second title of the week in the giant slalom II1. Macurova (1:17.80) joined her on the podium once again, this time taking silver. Japan’s Mariko Yuge (1:20.21) rounded-off the top three.

The Frenchwoman then sealed her third gold medal of the week in the women’s super-G II1. De Bonna (38.00) went quickest with Yuge (38.99) only slightly behind. Macurova (39.64) was third.

Yoshihide Kimura (1:06.17) led a Japanese one-two in the men’s slalom II1, re-claiming his gold from Gourette, France, in 2017. Teammate Waturu Hiranoi (1:10.63) bagged the silver ahead of France’s Antoine Maure (1:10.98).

Just 24 hours later Kimura (1:13.11) stepped onto the top spot of the podium once again after winning the men’s giant slalom II1. Compatriot Yusuke Kizuke (1:15.15) was second. Alexander Haissl of Austria just missed out on silver, sealing bronze in 1:15.22.

Kimura also proved unstoppable in the men’s super-G II1 on Friday, sweeping all three world titles on offer in Zakopane.

He skied a time of 36.58, racing into the history books and leading an-all Japanese podium.

Hiranoi Wataru (37.21) was second and Kizuke (37.95) third.

Friday also featured the men’s super-G II2 where victory was claimed by another Japanese skier, Hiroki Miyoshi (41.12). France’s Paul Riche (42.67) was second.

Pictures and videos are available at World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The stage is set for the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Indoor Athletics Championships from 2-4 March with some of the world’s best athletes arriving in Val de Reuil, France.

The competition will gather nearly 70 athletes from 13 countries at the Jesse Owens Stadium, including returning champions and Paralympians.

In the women’s, Portugal’s Ana Filipe is one of the headline acts. The teenager will go for her second consecutive gold in the high jump, having claimed the title in Ancona, Italy, in 2016. Filipe also took home a bronze medal in the long jump.

She went on to claim third in the same event at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, Great Britain, at the age of 17.

“I`m only going to try my best and see what happens,” Filipe said, before revealing she is targeting another jump title. “Training is good. I believe I also have good chance in the triple jump.”

Also in the mix will be Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk, the long jump silver medallist from two years ago. Kucharczyk left Italy with a clutch a medals, also claiming gold in the 60m hurdles and bronze in the 200m.

On the field hosts France have a medal favourite in Gloria Agblemagnon, the women’s shot put title holder.

Turkey’s Mihriban Kaya rounds off a stellar line-up in the women’s as she tries to defend her women’s pentathlon title. France’s Virginie Dreux secured silver at the last edition and is sure to try to capitalise on the energy of her home crowds.

Men’s

In the men’s Dreux’s teammate Damien Rumeau will go for his latest gold in the shot put.

However the absence of Portuguese multiple champion Lenine Cunha because of delayed recovery from a knee operation leaves the door wide open on the track and field.

Norway’s Bjorn Oivind Berger claimed high jump silver behind Cunha in 2016.

However Berger is the man with the target on his back in the pole vault having taken the top spot last time around. France’s Daniel Royer will also want to impress on home soil by improving on his silver medal performance.

Portugal’s Pedro Isidro is the defending champion in the men’s 3,000m race walk. Completing the headliners is Cape Verde’s Gracelino Barbosa, the men’s 60m hurdles gold medallist from 2016.

Live results, updates and pictures will be available at World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Around 60 skiers from nine countries have arrived in Zakopane, Poland, for the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) World Alpine and Nordic Skiing Championships.

Action gets underway on Tuesday (27 February) with the men’s and women’s slalom, men’s 10km and women’s 5km free technique.

At the Suche ski resort France’s Melanie De Bonna will begin her campaign to try to defend three titles.

In 2017 on her home snow in Gourette, the 21-year-old claimed gold in the super-G, giant slalom and slalom.

Japan’s Yoshihidi Kimura reached similar heights in the men’s a year ago and returns to the snow in Zakopane. Kimura sealed wins in the super-G and slalom but teammate Satoshi Tagawa prevented him from a clean sweep in the giant slalom.

Tagawa has been plotting how to overcome his double world champion teammate: “I want my revenge,” he said. “I will get myself mentally prepared for the event.”

Nordic skiing

On the trails of the Centralny Osrodek Sportu Zakopane, hosts Poland will go for glory in the cross-country skiing. Patryk Jakiela is the defending champion in the 15km free.

However Estonia’s Haans Teearu is keen to retain his 10km and sprint crown. Teearu is expected to push Jakiela all the way.

“For a few years I have been winning the 15km long course at the World Championships and I hope that I will win in Zakopane too,” Jakiela said. “I train a lot and feel strong, but I know that other players will want to stop me.

“There may be many situations on the race route, I can fall over, I can break a ski, I can lose a lot of strength, but I promise that I will fight. I like this race because I’m strong.”

Jakiela will also join Jerzy and Michal Krzanowski as they look to repeat their title winning performance in the men’s 3×2.5km relay from 2017.

Zakopane 2018 runs from 27 February – 2 March. It is the biggest competition on the calendar for skiers with intellectual impairments.

Alpine skiing will feature slalom, giant slalom and super-G. Nordic skiers will compete in the cross-country sprint, middle and long distance races as well as a 3×2.5km relay.

The Championships will also see the debut of two trial impairment groups – II2 for athletes with more significant impairments and II3 for athletes with high functioning autism. Skiers in the existing II1 category will also compete.

Live results, updates and pictures will be available at World Intellectual Impairment Sport’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.