I have been in New Zealand for less than a week but my stay in Christchurch has been nothing if not eventful.Perhaps

Zealand chief executive Fiona Pickering, IPC vice president Greg Hartung and none other than the New

Zealand Prime Minister himself John Key.Following the enjoyable event, I headed towards a local plush

Zealand Prime Minister and despite a number of security guards surrounding him, he appeared bizarrely

Zealand Prime Minister.It has been an interesting baptism of fire in New Zealand.Tom Degun is a reporter

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 22 - Greg Hartung (pictured), the vice-president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), has claimed that he is fully satisfied with the relationship between his organisation and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) despite the lack of IPC representation in the IOC.

relationship than how many IPC representatives serve as IOC members.Hartung, who is currently in New

Zealand for the Christchurch 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships, told insideworldparasport:

SIS Live be paid the £13 million ($21 million) it is owed for broadcasting the Commonwealth Games in New

export documentation, causing "huge logistical issues with equipment required for projects in Australia, New

Zealand and the Middle East in November, December and January", which he claimed had cost the firm

Varghese.Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] storiesNovember 2010: New

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 22 – Switzerland's silver bullet Marcel Hug was the standout performer on a wet and windy opening day of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships here at the QE II Stadium as he stormed tomvictory in the high class men's 10,000 metres T54 event.

bronze.Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] storiesJanuary 2011: New

Zealand Prime Minister opens IPC Athletics World Championships

January 21 - Rugby's 2011 USA Sevens will kick off at a different time from usual to maximise the event's exposure from its first ever live national network TV coverage.

out to attain mainstream legitimacy and exposure in the context of American sport, and this exciting new

Working with our event partners NBC Sports, the IRB, USA Rugby and some fantastic new sponsors, we look

they face Argentina, France and Caribbean qualifiers Guyana in Pool A.Eight-time World Series winners New

Zealand won the second event in George, South Africa and line up as second seeds in Pool B with opening

two events in Dubai and South Africa, England lead the HSBC Sevens World Series with 44 points.New Zealand

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 21 - Nick Willis will be presented with his new silver medal for

2008 Beijing Olympics during an international track meeting at the QEII Stadium here next month, the New

Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) have announced.

when it arrived to Willis.The NZOC therefore asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to mint a new

silver medal for Willis which they agreed to do and sent to New Zealand in the middle of last year.Instead

Zealand friends and family and an enthusiastic crowd," she said.Meet director Craig Motley added

that the occasion will be a unique event in New Zealand sporting history as the first, and possibly

only time, that an Olympic medal will be presented in New Zealand."

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 21 – John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, officially opened

Zealand national flag was raised and the national anthem performed.Speaking to the assembled crowd

I welcome you all to New Zealand for what will be a fantastic few weeks of competition."

To the people of New Zealand and particularly of Christchurch I extend the thanks, appreciation

Zealand, who talked about the importance of holding the World Championships outside of Europe for

Pickering also thanked the IPC for awarding the Championships to New Zealand."

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 20 – Britain's double Paralympic gold medallist David Weir (pictured) is feeling supremely confident on the eve of the IPC Athletics World Championships despite a nagging shoulder injury, claiming: "I always do well on the world stage."

compete in the T54 800m, 1,500m 5,000m and potentially the marathon at the 10-day championships in New

Zealand, which begin tomorrow.He believes he will do well despite his preparations being hampered by

a shoulder injury suffered in November following his victory in the 2010 New York Marathon."

ChampionshipsDecember 2010: Weir raring to take on the best and prove his classNovember 2010: Weir races to victory in New

By Mike RowbottomJanuary 20 - Ed Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, has indicated his support for the proposal that will be made public today for Crystal Palace to relocate from their current site at Selhurst Park to the Crystal Palace Park athletics site which Tottenham Hotspur want to refurbish as part of their plans to redevelop the London 2012 Olympic stadium exclusively for football.

establishment of a community track at or near Crystal Palace Park," Warner, who is in Christchurch, New

Zealand to watch the IPC Athletics World Championships, told insidethegames.Warner, a Palace season

insidethegames.bizRelated storiesJanuary 2011: Tottenham plan to move into Olympic Stadium suffers major setback with new

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 20 - Three earthquakes measuring 5.1, 3.4 and 4.0 on the Richter scale rocked Christchurch this morning causing concern ahead of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships which open tomorrow.

here in doubt, and tremors late last month but Fiona Pickering, the chief executive of Paralympic New

Zealand and chair of the Organising Committee, is confident the show will go on as planned.She

nations, head from Worcester Street Bride to Cathedral Square.Speeches will be made at the Ceremony by New

Zealand Prime Minister and Patron of the Championships John Key, IPC vice-president Greg Hartung

Zealand earthquake casts doubts over World Championships

that he spurned self-pity for a vigorous, reborn self-belief was spurred by the positive effect of new

Fox was the mod pen pioneer but latterly the new Foxes largely have been vixens.In the past decade it

Terry Edwards as one of the most consistently successful GB coaches.And among "Jan's Angels" there is a new

was named Freyja after a Norwegian goddess, which also happensto be a brand of chocolate which her New

Zealand-born mother, a former racehorse trainer, was particularly fond.Now in the second year of a biology

I can't deny that New Zealand is a truly beautiful place.I'm still undecided if the spectacular views

We chose New Zealand on their merits," Gonzalez told me as we sat in the vicinity of the impressive QE

We factored that in along with all the other elements and, in the end, the Paralympics New Zealand bid

With New Zealand, it is important for us to take Paralympic sport - particularly the World Championships

We are confident that New Zealand will do a fantastic job."

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchBeing Oscar Pistorius, I imagine, must be quite weird.To Paralympic sport, the South African is Usain Bolt, David Beckham and Tiger Woods all rolled into one.He is still just 24 years old but the double-leg amputee, commonly referred to as the "Blade Runner" due to the shape of his prosthetic legs, is already a four-time Paralympic gold medallist and the poster boy of every event he competes in.

Things are no different here at in Christchurch, New Zealand, at the International Paralympic Committee

Zealand on his relentless march to London 2012.But I do wonder - what it is like constantly being expected

has apparently not forgotten the defeat and had some strong words for Pistorius upon his arrival to New

Zealand."

The US team has now got some new athletes and we're ready to go."

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 19 – The Paralympics New Zealand team have received a welcome boost

ahead of the IPC Athletics World Championships with Nestlé New Zealand giving them a last-minute grant

lift to all eight athletes representing the hosts.Nestlé has contributed towards the costs of each New

a shortfall in funding for uniforms and equipment.Paralympics New Zealand chief executive Fiona Pickering

While competing in New Zealand is a cheaper option than sending a team overseas, there still remain significant

Maurice Gunnell, manager of corporate services at Nestlé New Zealand, says the grant fits perfectly with

We put an emphasis on eating well to compete well, which fits in with the Paralympics New Zealand team

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 18 - The four national teams embroiled in visa problems before heading to Christchurch for the 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships now appear to have solved the crisis.

make the event, which begins on Friday (January 21), as they had neglected to get visas for either New

Zealand or Australia - where some of the teams transit - or both.However, Paralympics New Zealand chief

Zealand has now approved visas for the Ivory Coast team after a hold-up at the service's field office

Zealand have worked together to get this problem sorted."

Zealand for World Championships