The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships was a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

competition for athletes with a

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open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in

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and lasted from 18 to 23 August. The competition was staged at Swansea University Stadium. Approximately 550 athletes from 37 countries attended the games. Russia won the Games atop the medal table with 41 Gold medals, and also collected the greatest overall medal haul with 88. The host nation, Britain, finished third. Of the 37 competing nations, 34 managed to achieve a podium finish. There were seven world records set and a further seven European records, in a games that was beset by difficult weather conditions throughout the tournament.

Venue

The venue for the Championships was the Swansea University athletics stadium.

Format

The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships is an invitational tournament taking in track and field events. No combined sports were included in the 2014 Championships. Not all events were open to all classifications, though no events were contested between classifications. Athletes finishing in first place are awarded the gold medal, second place the silver medal and third place the bronze. If only three competitors are available to challenge for an event then no bronze medal is awarded. Some events will be classed as 'no medal' events.

Coverage

As with the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, the IPC produced live streaming footage of the Championships on ParalympicSport.TV. In the United Kingdom

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

continued their commitment to para-sport with their own live streaming website and daily live coverage shown on their sister channel More4.

Events

IPC European Athletics Championships - flags of nations

Opening ceremony

The Championship opening ceremony took place at the Swansea University Stadium on the night of 18 August the day before the first events were held. The competition was officially opened by Welsh Assembly Minister John Griffiths followed by an address by the IPC president Sir

Philip Craven Sir Philip Lee Craven (born 4 July 1950) is an English sports administrator, former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, swimmer and track and field athlete. Between 2001 and 2017 he was the second president of the International Para ...

. The IPC flag carried into the stadium by schoolgirl Molly Hopkins, the youngest Swansea 2014 ambassador, Paralympian champion John Harris, swimmer Jack Thomas and games volunteer Harmony Dumay; before it was raised to signal the opening of the games. The swearing of the oaths were undertaken by Welsh athlete Josie Pearson, her coach Anthony Hughes, and on behalf of the officials by Matt Witt. Entertainment was provided at the venue by singers Shaheen Jafargholi and John Adams; and the Morriston Orpheus Choir.

Classification

To ensure competition is as fair and balanced as possible, athletes are classified dependent on how their disability impacts on their chosen event/s. Thus athletes may compete in an event against competitors with a different disability to themselves. Where there are more than one classification in one event, (for example discus throw F54/55/56), a points system is used to determine the winner. *F = field athletes *T = track athletes *11-13 – visually impaired, 11 and 12 compete with a

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