New Delhi Set to Host 2025 World Para Athletics Championships: Key Athletes, Schedule, and How to Watch

The World Para Athletics Championships are set to take place in New Delhi from September 27 to October 5. This will be the 12th edition of the championships and it's happening in India for the first time.

Venue: The events will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.

No. of events: This edition will feature 186 medal events -- 101 men's, 84 women's and one mixed, 15 more than at the last edition of the championships in Kobe, Japan.

What to expect from Indian athletes?

India's para athletes have made big improvements over the last few years and consistently won medals at the big events. At the Paris Paralympics, track and field events fetched 17 medals out of the overall haul of 29. Their haul of four athletics golds were the most from any single discipline.

A total number of 73 para athletes will represent the host nation at this year's edition. At the previous World Para Athletics Championships 2024 in Kobe, Indian para athletes won 17 medals, including six golds, making them the sixth best country in the championships.

Some of the big medal hopefuls include javelin thrower Sumit Antil, who's the current world record holder and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist. Dharambir Nain is also the defending Paralympic champion in club throw and has been selected as India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony. High jumper Praveen Kumar is a two-time Paralympic medallist, winning gold at Paris while he also won a bronze at the World Championships. Preethi Pal won two bronze medals -- 100m and 200m -- at the Paris Paralympics and won two bronze medals at the Kobe World Championships.

Who are some of the best athletes from around the world to watch out for?

Athanasios Ghavelas of Greece is the fastest T11 sprinter in the world. He is a two-time Paralympic champion in the men's 100m T11 and claimed his first world title in Paris two years ago.

Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland won five gold medals and one silver at the Paris Paralympics. The wheelchair racer has won eight World Championships medals, which includes five golds -- four of which came at her last Worlds appearance in Paris.

Ezra Frech of the USA won the gold medal in the men's high jump T63 and a silver in the 100m T63 event. He's also a two-time World Championship medallist, winning gold in 2023 Paris and silver in 2024 Kobe.

Raoua Tlili of Tunisia has 11 World Championships titles -- six in shot put and five in discus and she has won a total of eight Paralympic gold medals so far.

Xiaoyan Wen of China participates in long jump, sprint and relay races. At the Paris Paralympics, she won gold in the 100m T37, 200m T37, long jump T37, and the 4x100m universal relay. She also has five Paralympic golds from Rio and Tokyo, and eight World Championships titles.

Markus Rehm of Germany is a five-time Paralympic champion in long jump. He also holds the world record of 8.72m in his category, breaking his own previous record of 8.62m.

What are the classifications in para athletics?

Para athletes are classified into the respective events based on their physical impairment, intellectual impairment and vision impairment. The letter 'T' is prefixed for track and jump events, while 'F' is used to denote field events.

The different classifications are:

T/F11-13 (Vision impairment)

T/F20 (Intellectual impairment)

T/F31-38 (Coordination impairments, including wheelchair events)

T/F40-41 (Short stature)

T/F42-44 (Lower limb competing without prosthesis affected by limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement, includes seated events)

T/F45-47 and 51-58 (Upper limb/s affected by limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement)

T/F61-64 (Lower limb/s competing with prosthesis affected by limb deficiency and leg length difference)

T71-72: (Coordination impairments in frame running events)

Who are the best performing countries in the championships?

China have dominated the medal table in the last five editions, right from 2015 to 2024.

At the previous World Championships in Kobe, China won 87 medals which included 33 gold medals followed by Brazil with 42 medals, including 19 gold medals.

Where will the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 be shown?

The official broadcast rights in India are owned by Prasar Bharti. The events will be shown LIVE on Doordarshan's national and digital platforms (DD Sports and Waves app).