Channel 4 has added another world-class disability event to its broadcasting portfolio – already including the London 2012 Paralympic Games – by announcing it will broadcast the BT Paralympic World Cup, which will be held in Manchester from 23 to 28 May.
This is great news for the BT Paralympic World Cup, providing the event with the strongest broadcast coverage it has ever received on UK television, including a two-hour live programme on 28 May and daily highlights on 26 and 27 May, as well as live daily streaming from each sport on the Channel 4 website.
It will be the seventh consecutive year that Manchester will play host to elite international athletes who come to the Paralympic World Cup to compete in Wheelchair Basketball, Athletics and Swimming – and, included in the 2011 programme for the first time – Boccia and Sitting Volleyball, in which international matches will be staged.
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Deborah Poulton, Sports Editor, Paralympics at Channel 4, said “We are thrilled to be adding the BT Paralympic World Cup to our TV sporting schedules. Alongside the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the BT Paralympic World Cup is another opportunity to help increase awareness of Paralympic sport and make the British viewing public the best informed and most engaged in the world.”
The BT Paralympic World Cup fully justifies the increased coverage, with the 2010 event breaking record attendance figures for a UK disability sporting event.
Suzi Williams, Director, BT Group Marketing and Brand, said, “The 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup was a fantastic success, with record crowds and some spectacular sporting performances. This year’s BT Paralympic World Cup will raise the bar even higher, it’s a must-attend event for the world’s best Paralympic athletes as they prepare for the Paralympic Games next year.”
ParalympicsGB Chief Executive Phil Lane has also welcomed the broadcast announcement and said, “The quality and depth of the coverage that Channel 4 will bring to the BT Paralympic World Cup truly demonstrates the vision that they share with us for bringing Paralympic sport to the forefront of the public’s minds.”
To mark the launch of the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup, Wheelchair Basketball player Simon Munn, Paralympic Swimming champion Liz Johnson and recent IPC Athletics world champion Richard Whitehead took part in an underwater photoshoot at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.
Johnson is looking forward to the chance to build on the silver medal she won in the pool last year and said, “The BT Paralympic World Cup is a key competition for me and will be a crucial preparation as I look towards London 2012. I’ve had fantastic support from the team around me, and I am hopeful of realising my dreams at a home Games.”
The BT Paralympic World Cup is the largest annual international multi-sport competition in elite disability sport. BT is entering its third year as title sponsor, in a sponsorship which runs up to and includes the 2012 BT Paralympic World Cup.
Further news for this year’s event, John Lewis has announced their sponsorship of the volunteering scheme for the BT Paralympic World Cup, an extension of their Partners in Sport programme.
The event schedule will see the Manchester Regional Arena host Wheelchair Basketball on 23-26 May and Athletics on 27 May, with the Manchester Aquatics Centre hosting the Swimming competition on 27-28 May. The Sitting Volleyball international match will be staged at the Regional Arena on 25 May and the Boccia match on 26 May.
Anna Young, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
