A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of six miles hit the edge of Christchurch early on Saturday (September 4) with the impact bringing down power lines, ripping up roads and wrecking building facades.

There were no reported deaths but there were fears that the venues being used for the World Championships were damaged which cast doubts about the city being able to host the event early next year.

However, the official opening of the on-line entry system for the competition suggests that the IPC are fully expecting the competition to go ahead as planned.

To register for the World Championships, the IPC offers an on-line entry system that is synchronised with the IPC Sport Database Management System (SDMS).

The on-line entry system allows National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) to enter athletes who meet eligibility criteria in medal events included on the Championships programme.

The on-line entry system can only be accessed by the primary NPC contact person who is provided with a password to enter the athletes into the World Championships.

Meanwhile, the qualification rankings for the World Championships, which has also been published today, contains a  list of all of the athletes who have met the standard approved by IPC Athletics within the qualification period.

The on-line entry system for registration will officially close at midnight on October 6, 2010, while the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships take place from January 21 until 30 and are expected to see hundreds of athletes from around the globe compete in one of the last major gatherings before the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The on-line entry system can be accessed by primary NPC contact person by clicking here.

The qualification rankings for the World Championships can be found by clicking here.  

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