Russian rivalry takes centre stage in Dubai

More Russian success is expected in the discus circle with veteran Alexey Ashapatov the warm favourite to overcome the hot conditions in Dubai.

Almost seven months have elapsed since the events of those epic Paralympic Games in London last year – and it certainly seems like the Dubai stage for this week’s FAZZA competition is a world away from those heady days in the UK capital.

Yet, wherever you look in Dubai, UAE this week, there are echoes of those unforgettable athletics days and nights when the Paralympics held the world in its grip.

This is the fifth Fazza International Athletics Meeting and is the first stop on the 2013 IPC Athletics Grand Prix tour which next moves onto Beijing before meetings in Sao Paolo, Grossetto, Arizona and Berlin.

Mohamed Hammadi is expected to be the UAE's top competitor this weekend after having won silver in the 200m T34 and bronze in the 100m T34 at London 2012.

Thailand's Prawat Wahoram, who finished second to Great Britain's David Weir in the 1,500m T54 at London 2012, is on the IPC's Ones to Watch list this season and will also be in Dubai for the competition.

Dubai’s track and field events could see plenty of success for Russia this week – certainly you don’t have to look too far elsewhere for the likely winner of the 400m T13 title.

Russia might be the overwhelming favourites to win the gold over the one-lap event but naming the actual winner might not be so certain.

One of the most high-quality races in London was the final of this event – and it was dominated by Alexei Labzin and his compatriot Alexander Zverev who stormed clear of the field with Labzin just getting home first in a highly-impressive Paralympic record of 48.61.

Labzin’s emotional celebrations won the heart of the London crowd that night and he’s aiming to collect the FAZAA title in Dubai again and all the signs point to another tremendous battle with Zverev.

Labzin should be one of the favourites in the 200m T13 as well – having won silver in London, albeit behind a record-breaking run by Ireland’s Jason Smyth.

Another Russian, Artem Loginov was pushed back into third behind Smyth and Labzin and should be in the mix this week.

More Russian success is expected in the discus circle with veteran Alexey Ashapatov the warm favourite to overcome the hot conditions in Dubai.

The double Paralympic champion set a new world record last September in the F57-58 event and should come out on top again although Egyptian Metawa Abouelkhir, third in London, might be the man to profit in case of an admittedly unlikely slip-up from Ashapatov.