IN JUNE at the IPC Athletics European Championships in Grosseto, Italy, Russia came away with a grand total of 131 medals – 51 gold, 51 silver, 29 bronze, which was more than double Great Britain’s 56 back in second place.
The domination in Europe follows a string of strong performances across the board in Russia para-athletics. It came second in the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha with 69 medals to China’s 85, having topped the previous world table in 2013 with 53 medals – 26 of which were gold.
In 2012 Russia finished second in the athletics table with 36 medals. Nine multiple medallists from London, including triple champion Margarita Goncharova, will miss out as well as 22-year-old sprinting superstar, six-time world champion Andrey Vdovin.