LONDON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Following is an A-Z of athletics at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, which officially opened on Wednesday night. The ten-day athletics events will be staged on from Aug. 31.
Athletics - is the biggest sport on the Paralympics agenda with 170 gold medal events and approximately 1,100 athletes competing. It is open to all disability groups, meaning there is a lengthy list of classes. Athletes compete in traditional track and field events with modifications made for certain disabilities.
Beijing - At the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, China topped the medals table with a total of 77 which included 38 gold medals. Australia came second with 27 medals, including 10 victories; 38 different countries and regions won at least one gold medal.
Combined class events - Sometimes there is not an event available for a particular classification. In this case athletes have the option of competing up a class with athletes with less impairment. For these events, there is no points scoring system and the fastest or furthest performance wins.
Disabilities - Athletes with an intellectual impairment (F20 classification) will compete for the first time since the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
Eligible impairment groups - All physical impairment groups and athletes with learning disability. Athletes competing in the track (T) and field (F) events are divided into classifications to ensure fair competition.
Franz Nietlispach (Switzerland ) - is the most successful male Paralympic athlete of all time. He won 21 medals - 14 gold, six silver and one bronze - between 1980 and 2000.
Guide runner - Visually impaired runners use a guide runner, usually someone from their own team, to assist them in completing a race safely and as quickly as possible by running alongside them during the race, guiding them to stay in their lane.
High jump - Athletes in the classifications visual impairment and limb impairment compete in this event. Visually impaired athletes may touch the bar to orientate themselves before they jump. The highest ratified jump by a Paralympic athlete is F44 jumper Jeff Skiba (United States) who leapt 2.11 metres to win in Beijing 2008.
Italy - The Italian capital Rome was the location of the first Paralympic Games in 1960. Athletics, one of eight original sports, has been included on the Paralympic programme since the inception of the Games 52 years ago.
Javelin - The best ever performance by a Paralympic athlete is by F12 thrower Zhu Pengkai (China) who threw 63.07m to win in Beijing 2008, a world record which still stands.
Kurt Fearnley (Australia) - He is going for his third consecutive Paralympic Games marathon title, after having won in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Fearnley's biggest threat is Britain's David Weir a six-time London marathon winner.
Lifting - When throwing from a throwing frame, seated athletes sometimes finish in a standing position before releasing the implement. This is called lifting, and is against the rules if the athlete doesn't have a foot on the ground.
Marla Runyan (United States) - She was the first Paralympian athlete to compete in athletics at the Olympics Games. The American won five Paralympic Games gold medals between 1992 and 1996 before qualifying for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where she finished eighth in the 1,500m final.
Number of medal events - There are 170 medal events in total: 96 track, 70 field, and four on the road; 103 events for men and 67 for women.
Oscar Pistorius (South Africa) - He became the first male Paralympian athlete to compete at the Olympic Games, and only the second ever after Marla Runyan, when he ran in both the 400m and 4x400m at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Qing Suping (China) - The winner of the F57/58 javelin on home soil in Beijing 2008. She will be aiming in London to not only retain her title but challenge the F57 javelin world record of 23.87m, which has been held by Mary Zakayo (Kenya) since 2000. Now 42, Qing was a latecomer to the sport, only starting throwing when she was 33.
Raza - A mathematical formula applied to each athlete's throw or jump distance to calculate a points score in field event competitions of mixed classification. The athlete with the highest score wins, meaning the athlete with the least impairment does not receive an unfair advantage.
Singleton (United States) - He made history at the 2011 IPC world championships by becoming the first athlete in seven years to beat Oscar Pistorius, when he took the T43/44 100m gold medal.
Thompspon (Britain) - Baroness Grey-Thompson is considered to be Britain's most successful Paralympic athlete. Over her career, she won a total of 16 Paralympic Games medals - 11 gold, four silver and a bronze - between 1988 and 2004.
Upset - With 170 gold medals at stake, there will inevitably be plenty of these as new names come to the fore and old favourites fail to perform up to expectations or find that time has run out for them.
Van Der Merwe (South Africa) - The South African sprinter won the T37 100m and 200m titles in Beijing 2008 but then had to settle for the silver medals in both events at last year's IPC world championships. However, he has since set T37 world records of 11.52 and 23.10.
Weir (Britain) - He will be one of the most recognisable faces at London 2012 after winning the London marathon a record-equalling six times. The T54 wheelchair racer was one of the top performers in Beijing, taking home two golds in the 800m and 1,500m as well as a 400m silver medal and 5000m bronze.
Xia Dong (China) - His two gold medals in F37/38 shot put and javelin helped China top the athletics medal table in Beijing 2008. He will be defending his shot put title in London 2012, an event in which he is also the world record holder with 16.60m. With no javelin on the schedule, he will also compete in the discus at which he won a bronze medal in Beijing four years ago.
Youngest - The youngest Paralympian at London 2012 is Desiree Vranken (Netherlands). Competing in the women's T34 100m and 200m, she will be 15 years and two months old.
Zimbabwe - The African country, which alphabetically is last on the list of competing NPCs in London 2012, has only two athletes at London 2012. Elliot Mujaji, who will be competing in the T46 100m, was also the first Zimbabwe athlete to win a Paralympic gold medal when he triumphed in the same event in Sydney 2000. He retained his title in 2004 but didn't get beyond his heat in Beijing 2008.
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