41 competitors have been selected to compete in the world class programme for the Paralympics in 2023 and 2024 by British Athletics.
Ben Sandilands, who won the gold medal in the T20 1500m at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris in July, is one of the four athletes who have been added to the podium level, which is the highest of the three funding tiers.
The level of the podium has been expanded to include Zak Skinner, Zac Shaw, and Daniel Sidbury, all of whom won medals at the World Championships.
The Paralympic Games will be held in Paris from the 28th of August until the 8th of September in the following year.
Included in this group are seven athletes who currently hold the title of reigning Paralympic champion: Jonathan Broom-Edwards, Hannah Cockroft, Aled Sion Davies, Sophie Hahn, Owen Miller, and Daniel Pembroke. Thomas Young is also included.
Sandilands, who is now 20, did not take part in any level of the Paralympic world class program during the previous season.
Sidbury, who is 29 years old, won the men’s wheelchair race at the Great North Run on Sunday and also earned bronze medals in the T54 5000m and 800m events in Paris. Shaw, 27, won a bronze medal in the T12 100-meter race, while Skinner, 24, placed third in the T13 long jump. All three athletes had previously received support for a second-tier podium potential.
Twenty athletes are placed in the podium tier, fourteen athletes are placed at the podium potential level, and seven athletes are placed in the confirmation category, which is aimed for athletes who are getting used to the lifestyle of participating in high-performance programs.
The National Lottery, which is administered by UK Sport, provides funding for the program, and the number of participants may potentially increase; a conference to discuss marathon runners is planned for the month of January.
David Devine and Richard Chiasaro, two athletes who were receiving podium support in 2022-23, do not qualify for the competition.
The World Para Athletics Championships will be held in Kobe, Japan, from May 17 to May 25 of the following year, just prior to the Paralympics.
