“Lyon 2013 marks the start of the road to Rio and the 2016 Paralympic Games and I am confident that all those who competed in London last year will raise the bar of their performances even higher whilst a number of new athletes will break on to the scene.”

With just one week to go until the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, IPC Athletics has announced that they will be the biggest yet with a record number of athletes, countries and media set to attend.

More than 1,100 athletes from 99 countries are set to compete in 207 medal events in Lyon in what will be the first major gathering of international athletes since the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Teams competing in the Championships are set to start arriving in the French gastro-city this weekend (13-14 July) ahead of next Friday’s (19 July) Opening Ceremony.

USA, who finished sixth in the medals table at the 2011 World Championships, will have the largest delegation, featuring 76 athletes, followed by Russia who will have 66. London 2012 hosts Great Britain have named a 46 strong team whilst Brazil who will stage the Paralympics in 2016 will be arriving in Lyon with 35 athletes. China, who topped the medals table at both London 2012 and the 2011 World Championships, will arrive with 24 athletes.

Amongst the big names set to compete will be Brazil’s Alan Fonteles Oliveira and the Netherlands’ Marlou van Rhijn who recently cemented their places in the history books as the fastest leg amputees on the planet. They will be joined by the fastest Paralympian in the world Jason Smyth of Ireland and two of the world’s best wheelchair racers USA’s Tatyana McFadden and Great Britain’s Hannah Cockcroft.

Ed Warner, Sport Technical Committee Chairperson of IPC Athletics, said: “I’m delighted that Lyon 2013 is on course to be a record breaking World Championships as it is important that the sport builds on the success of last year’s Paralympic Games.

“Compared to the last World Championships in 2011 we have 19 additional countries coming to Lyon and about 150 more athletes making this the biggest IPC Athletics event to date. I’m also pleased that many countries that sent just one or two athletes to previous events are now sending five or six underlining the growing strength in depth across the world.

“Lyon 2013 marks the start of the road to Rio and the 2016 Paralympic Games and I am confident that all those who competed in London last year will raise the bar of their performances even higher whilst a number of new athletes will break on to the scene.”

In addition to a record number of athletes and countries taking part in Lyon more media than ever before will be at the Championships. Close to 200 journalists and photographers from 25 countries will be covering the event, whilst TV pictures from Lyon will also be broadcast globally.

French broadcaster France 4 will be showing two hours of live coverage from Lyon each evening, whilst there will also be coverage in the UK through Channel 4 and many European countries thanks to Eurovision. There will also be coverage in Brazil and Australia.

The last IPC Athletics World Championships took place in Christchurch, New Zealand in January 2011 and featured just over 1,000 athletes from 80 countries. China topped the medals table taking home 21 gold, 22 silver and 15 bronze medals.

For more information on the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France which take place between 19-28 July, please visit www.ipcathleticsworlds.com. You can also follow all the action live via www.YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV