Friday 7th July

 

British greats of culture, media and sport have all come together to throw their weight behind #FillTheStadium with just over a week to go until the World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 kicks off the Summer of World Athletics.

Actress Dame Barbara Windsor leads an extensive list of the great and good of Britain who are supporting the World Para Athletics Championships, which start at the London Stadium on Friday 14 July.

Olympic champions Linford Christie and Helen Glover, former World Record holder and Olympic silver medallist Colin Jackson and badminton Olympic medallist Gail Emms, TV presenters Gabby Logan and Alex Brooker, England footballer Jermaine Jenas and six-time Paralympic gold medallist David Weir are all backing #FillTheStadium.

Organisers are already celebrating record sales with more than 230,000 tickets sold – bigger than all of the previous eight editions of the World Para Athletics Championships combined and the biggest ever crowd for any Para sport world championship outside of a Paralympic Games.

To celebrate #FillTheStadium British greats Dame Barbara, Christie, Glover, Jackson, Emms, Logan, Brooker, Jenas and Weir all took part in two special videos, which can be seen here and here.

Helen Glover said: “To get athletics back in London again is really exciting. There is no bigger stadium than a home event for the Para athletes. I have met a lot of them and I have a huge amount of respect for what they do and how much they train. To be able to watch them competing at home will be really special. I know firsthand what a home crowd can do for your performance so anybody who is thinking about getting down and watching either the World Para Athletics Championships or World Athletics Championships, please do because our athletes need you to be there cheering and supporting. They will enjoy it just as much as you do if you are there cheering for them.”

Alex Brooker said: “The atmosphere at London 2012 was unlike anything else and this summer we’ve got a chance to completely relive it again. We have had the Anniversary Games over the last few years but nothing is going to compare to what London 2017 is going to be like for the Olympic as well as the Paralympic athletes. It will be amazing to see these massive crowds cheering on the likes of Jonnie Peacock, Hannah Cockroft and Richard Whitehead. We get a chance to see them all over again and I am sure it is going to be incredible.”

Gail Emms said: “London12012 was an experience that I will never ever forget. Obviously, I am a little bit biased being an Olympian but it was so amazing seeing a home nation get behind their athletes. It was really emotional for me actually watching all the people around the Olympic Park with the Union flags and so excited to be a part of something so special. I am a big believer of continuing that momentum, that passion and that support that London 2012 gave to so many athletes. To know that there is going to be a World Para Athletics Championships and a World Athletics Championships at that venue, I can’t wait to bring that emotion, that enthusiasm, that passion back to the Olympic Park.”

Niels de Vos, Championship Director, said: “It is great to have the support of so many British actors, presenters and sportsmen and women. They lead the way in what they do and what they have done and we want to thank them for getting behind #FillTheStadium and supporting the World Para Athletics Championships.”

The World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 kick off the Summer of World Athletics and the biggest sporting event in the world in 2017 with the IAAF World Championships following at the London Stadium from 4-13 August.

It is the first time ever both the World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships are being held in the same city in the same summer and is the biggest event to be staged at the London Stadium since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with 30 sessions scheduled across 20 days. Tickets are on sale at https://tickets.london2017athletics.com.