Regional Championships: All you need to know!

One month from now, Pyeongtaek in South Korea will be hosting the strongest Asian Para athletes during the 2022 Asia Oceania Open Championships.

The competition will take place from 15 to 20 June and it will be the first out of four World Para Powerlifting regional championships to take place this year

Here is all you need to know about the biggest events of this season.

PYEONGTAEK 2022

Located in the southwestern part of the Gyeonggi province, Pyeongtaek will be the first South Korean city to host the Asia Oceania Open Championships from 15 to 20 June. 

The last edition was held in Kitakyushu, Japan, in 2018. As four years ago, the event will be open to athletes from outside the two continents.

China is the favourite to top the medals table as the most decorated nation from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Chinese athletes won seven golds and six silver medals at the Games.

ST. LOUIS 2022

Next in line to host the regional championships is St. Louis. The US city will be the home of 2022 Parapan American Open Championships from 8 to 11 July.

St. Louis 2022 will take place at the Logan University Campus in Chesterfield marking the first edition of the Americas Regional Championships in four years.

Bogota, Colombia hosted the last championships in the Americas region (North America, South America and Central America) in 2018 with 150 athletes from 27 nations.

AFRICAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The best African Para powerlifters will take on the stage from 1 to 4 September with the host city yet to be announced by the World Para Powerlifting.

Algiers, Algeria, hosted the last edition of the African Open Championships with the Egyptian hero Sherif Osman being named the Best African Powerlifter after successfully defending the title.

TBILISI 2022

After successfully hosting the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships, Georgian capital Tbilisi got the honour to host another major Para powerlifting event.

European Championships are due to take place from 24 to 29 September and will mark the end of the regional championships for 2022.

The last city to host the European Championships was Berck-sur-Mer, France in 2018.

MORE WORLD RECORDS TO COME

None of the world records set at the regional championships in 2018 stand to this day. Despite the fact, 2022 should be an exciting year for new benchmarks, especially according to a very successful 2021.

In total, there were eight world records broken last year, four in men’s and four in women’s competition. Tbilisi was a happy place for most of the athletes as they broke six world records there, while two other records were broken at the Dubai and Bangkok World Cups.

PATHWAY TO PARIS 2024

It is mandatory for the athletes to compete in their respective 2022 World Para Powerlifting Regional Championships to be eligible for a qualification slot at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

You will be able to follow all the action from the regional championships on World Para Powerlifting social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.