Tashkent 2027 World Para Athletics: 202 medal events, qualification criteria set
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
World Para Athletics has announced the full medal programme and qualification criteria for the 2027 World Para Athletics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with the competition scheduled at the Uzbekistan Olympic City Sport Stadium from 19 to 27 June 2027. The event will feature 202 medal events — the highest total at a World Championships since London 2017 — and is expected to draw more than 1,300 athletes from over 100 nations.
Expanded Programme
The Tashkent 2027 programme retains every event from the New Delhi 2025 World Championships and adds 16 new medal events, bringing the total to 202 (111 men's, 90 women's, and one mixed). Crucially, all 164 medal events on the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games programme are included, making this the most important qualifying platform on the road to LA28.
Five Newly Added Events
World Para Athletics confirmed five brand-new medal events for Tashkent 2027. These are the Men's 100m T61, Men's 200m T47, Men's discus throw F53, Women's 100m T61, and Women's 800m T20. The additions reflect growing athlete depth in these classifications and align competition opportunities more closely with the Paralympic programme.
Separated Events Explained
Beyond the five new additions, 11 further medal events result from the separation of previously combined classifications. For example, the Men's 100m T63 — which formerly accommodated both T42 and T63 athletes — will now run as two distinct medal events: Men's 100m T42 and Men's 100m T63. Similar separations apply across sprints, jumps, and throws, covering men's and women's events in categories such as the 400m T43/T62, long jump T63 and T64, high jump T42/T63/T64, shot put F42/F63, javelin throw F55/F57, and women's discus throw F56/F57. The rationale is to give athletes in each distinct classification a dedicated competitive platform rather than having them compete across merged classes.
Scale and Significance
Tashkent 2027 is set to be the largest para sport event in the current Paralympic cycle and the biggest sporting event of any kind ever staged in Uzbekistan. The field of more than 1,300 athletes from over 100 countries underlines the global reach of para athletics. This comes amid a broader push by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to increase classification-specific representation and deepen the talent pipeline before the LA28 Games. Notably, the expansion from New Delhi 2025's total also signals that emerging classifications are now producing enough competitive depth to justify standalone medal events. The full qualification criteria and Minimum Entry Standards are available on the World Para Athletics website.
What's Next
Athletes and national federations will now begin planning their qualification campaigns around the published Minimum Entry Standards. With LA28 less than 14 months after Tashkent 2027 concludes, performance at the World Championships will carry significant weight in Paralympic selection decisions across most nations.