Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have officially opened in New Zealand.

The event is the last major international gathering of athletes before the Paralympic Games in London in 2012.

The team from Great Britain and Northern Ireland currently have ten athletes ranked number one in the world across 12 events.

Team Captain Dan Greaves is aiming for his third successive World Championships title in the discus.

Wheelchair athletes Mickey Bushell and Hannah Cockroft are competing for places across the 100m heats and 200m finals respectively. Shelly Woods is taking part in the 5000m final and David Weir in the 800m heats.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist sprinter Katrina Hart is participating in the 200m heats.

In the last World Championships in the Netherlands in 2006 the GB & NI team won 27 medals including nine gold, nine silver and 9 bronze.

There are more than 1,000 competitors from 70 countries due to take part in the Championships at the QE11 stadium in Christ Church.

You can follow the action via the IPC's which will feature live coverage of the evening sessions starting on Saturday 22 January.

There will also be daily video highlights on the .

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is there reporting for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. You can also follow her personal take on the Championships via her feed.