Al Hammadi to lead UAE's charge at World Para Athletics Championship

Dubai - It is the first major international meeting since the Paralympic Games were held in Brazil last September

dubai - No less than 50 Paralympic medallists from Rio including UAE star Mohammed Al Hammadi will kick-start their journey to London at a brand new stadium in Dubai when the 9th Fazza World Para Athletics Championship - Dubai 2017 gets underway on Monday.
The competition will continue until March 23 with action scheduled to begin at 4.00 pm each day.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; it is being organised and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of their strategic partners Dubai Sports Council, World Para Athletics, the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), and the UAE Paralympic Committee, the season-opening World Para Athletics Dubai Grand Prix has attracted 386 athletes from 41 countries.
It is the first major international meeting since the Paralympic Games were held in Brazil last September and provides the first opportunity to see many of the world's top Para athletes back in action since Rio 2016. Records are expected to tumble in the new state-of-the-art venue in Dubai which has been a happy hunting ground for Para athletes as three world records were broken in 2016, eight in 2015 and seven in 2014.
Among the line up in Dubai will be 20 Paralympic gold medallists from Rio, including Mohammed Al Hammadi who won the UAE's only track gold at Rio 2016 defeating world champion Walid Ktila of Tunisia in the T34 800m wheelchair race in a Games record time of 1 minute, 40.24 seconds.
In fact the duel between Al Hammadi, who lines up in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m T34, and world record holder Ktila will be provide for a fascinating spectacle. The Fazza World Para Athletics Championship in Dubai is the first of a series of nine Grand Prix taking place around the world this year as preparations for the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in July.
Many Para Athletics stars see Dubai Grand Prix as an important destination to rekindle their confidence and get their focus back on track as they look towards London even as they ride on the success achieved in Rio 2016.
"For me it's very good to race against good athletes, to see where I am and also to see where others are," Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug was reported as saying in the official website of World Para Athleticswww.paralympic.org before heading to Dubai.
Hug clinched two gold and two silver medals at the Paralympic Games six months ago - placing him top of the medal standings in men's Para athletics at Rio 2016.
Winner of the 800m and marathon T54, it was Hug's first time at the top of the Paralympic podium - a feat he had been striving for since Athens 2004. The 31-year-old believes a strong performance in Dubai is just what he needs to kick-start another winning season.
"For me it is very important to have a good start to the season. It's important for my self-confidence," explained Hug, who took a two and a half month break from Para athletics after he won the New York marathon last November.
Hug does not believe in resting on his laurels and racing in Dubai will be like starting all over again.
"In a way I think winning in Rio changed my confidence. But I think now it starts from zero and I think the expectations are high again; very high," he said.
Five of Great Britain's Paralympic champions also start their World Championship campaign in Dubai - Libby Clegg (T11), Georgie Hermitage (T37), Kadeena Cox (T38), Sophie Hahn (T38) and Jo Butterfield (F51).
Clegg is aware all eyes wil be on her after winning two Paralympic golds at Rio 2016. "It would be good for me to put down a strong marker just to show what kind of shape I'm in," said Clegg.