By Tom Degun

BPFebruary 15 - British Paralympic stars Shelly Woods, Stef Reid and Richard Whitehead, who all claimed medals at the Christchurch 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships last month, are set to receive support from BP as they prepare for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.


The trio are joined by London 2012 Olympic hopefuls in the forms of world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, exciting track and road cycling prospect Lizzie Armitstead and Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the 110 metre hurdles William Sharman as the six British athletes BP are supporting.

Mike Sharrock, BP's partnership director for London 2012 said: "We're delighted and proud to support such an incredible group of athletes, all of whom are aiming to compete and to achieve outstanding results in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

The support from BP, the Official Oil and Gas Partner and a Sustainability Partner for the London 2012 Games, will include fuel for the cars of the athletes and their coaches as they train, compete and prepare for London 2012.

As the Official Carbon Offsetting Partner, BP will also help the athletes to leave a smaller carbon footprint than their fellow competitors, BP claimed.

The CO2 emitted during their travel as the athletes prepare for the London 2012 Games will be offset by BP Target Neutral.

BP will also be ready to do the same for spectators who travel to the Games in 2012.

Shelly_Woods_Beijing_2008

Wheelchair racing star Woods (pictured), who claimed two medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, admitted she was delighted to be selected as one of the BP supported athletes.

"To know BP will be supporting projects that are beneficial to the environment as a way of offsetting mine and my fellow athletes' carbon footprint is brilliant," said the 24-year-old.

Reid, the 25-year-old from New Zealand, competed in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing where she won a bronze medal in the 200 metres.

She is currently the world record holder for the long jump T44 category, an event for which she won a bronze medal at this year's World Championships.

Meanwhile 34-year-old Whitehead won gold in this year's World Championships in the 200m T44 final.

He also competes in marathons and is currently the fastest single or double leg amputee in the world, with a record time of 2 hours 42min 52sec at the Chicago marathon.

He was also the first leg amputee to break the three-hour barrier over the full marathon distance.

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