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Kobe 2024: World Championships kick off on Friday to mark a year like no other
First edition of the Para Athletics Worlds in East Asia will see over 1,047 athletes from 100 nations competing from 17 to 25 May marking the first time the world's largest single Para sport event is held in the same year of the Paralympic Games 16 May 2024
Three years after the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan is now the stage for the world’s largest single Para sport event. Over 1,000 athletes from 101 nations will gather from 17 to 25 May in Kobe for the 2024 Para Athletics World Championships at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium.
The action kicks off on Friday with 13 medal events, starting with the women’s discus throw F55 final at 9:00 AM (Local Time). The event will be streamed live on the World Para Athletics Facebook page and the Paralympics YouTube channel.
The first edition of the World Championships in East Asia also marks the first time the event takes place in the year of the Paralympic Games. Kobe 2024 was originally scheduled to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID pandemic.
In the words of an athlete with seven Paralympic gold medals and twice as many world titles, the Kobe 2024 Para Athletics World Championships will be something unique.
“We have never had the opportunity to race in two major championships in one year,” British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft said. “So, for this [World Championships] to be opening my season ahead of hopefully a very successful Paralympic Games is incredibly exciting and very scary too. I have lots of new builds in the start line, lots of new competition and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”
Cockroft will be competing in the women’s 100m T34 on Tuesday (21 May) and women’s 800m T34 on Thursday (23).
There will be more than 100 events with athletes defending their title from Paris 2023. One of them is Brazil’s Petrucio Ferreira who will be eyeing a fourth consecutive gold medal in the 100m T47 on day one.
Another defending champion is USA’s Noah Malone, who has high expectations for Kobe in the men’s 100m T12.
“This is my third World Championships and I’m focusing on the 100m and also the [universal] relay. I have a Championships record from last year, but my goal is hopefully to set a world record as well,” said the U.S. sprinter, who will run the 100m T12 on Saturday (18) and the universal relay on Friday (24).
Japanese ambassador
Hosts Japan will be aiming at improving the four gold medals from last year’s World Championships in Paris. One of the Kobe 2024 Ambassadors, Atsushi Yamamoto is hoping to make a return to the podium and another medal to a collection that dates back to Assen 2006.
“I feel confident and I hope that competing here, in this environment that is familiar to us, can help us show at our best in this World Championships. I want to improve my personal best and hopefully win a medal here,” said Yamamoto, who will compete in the men’s long jump T63 on Sunday (19).
Among the medal hopefuls in Kobe there are also two athletes eager to go one better after their silver medal last year in Paris.
New Zealand’s Holly Robinson (F46 class) is a javelin Paralympic champion and world-record holder who will be competing only in her second major event in the shot put.
“It’s super exciting to be in Kobe. The shot put will be my only event here and I came off from a really good domestic season, so I am really hoping to push some good distances,” Robinson said. “I’ve been competing in the World Championships since 2011 and this is year is a really different one for us with two majors in one year, so this kickstarts my international campaign and it will be really good to see where I’m at.”
Meanwhile, Mauritius’ wheelchair racer Noemi Alphonse will be aiming to write a new chapter in her international career after becoming the first athlete from her nation to win a World Championships medal – a second place in the women’s 100m T54 followed by a bronze the next day in the 400m.
She will be on the track in four events in Kobe, starting with the women’s 800m T54 on Saturday (19), followed by the 1500m T54 on Tuesday (21), the 100m T54 on Wednesday (22) and the 400m T54 the next day (23).
“It is my first time in Japan and it is great to be here. Each event has its own story, and Kobe will also be a great story for when we go home. The track looks fast and I hope there will be a lot of records,” Alphonse said.
