大象传媒

MANCHESTER: As the sun set over the city on Sunday night, the Paralympic dreams of many Great Britain athletes are still burning bright.

The has become an important event on the calendar for elite disability athletes, especially this year with the fast approaching.

(bathed in sunshine for the duration of my time here!) hosted a feast of sport with basketball, cycling, swimming and athletics all on the programme.

Over the course of the four days I saw a plethora of world records with the GB and to the fore and plenty of reasons to be cheerful about Britain's medal chances when the big event comes along in September.

, who was reporting on the event for the 大象传媒 has her say .

But some highlights for me were:

- The thrilling tandem sprint in the Velodrome with the final between and former Paralympic judo champion Simon Jackson and his pilot Barney Storey, Kappes's former partner.

Jackson is only three weeks into his cycling training but he and Storey, who is a vastly experienced campaigner, looked impressive throughout the competition. However, Kappes and Norfolk were in no mood to be beaten.

The tension in the was palpable as the two pairings lined up for the final but amid a cacophony of noise, Kappes and Norfolk emerged victorious, hitting speeds of over 41mph on the final lap around the track.

- The emergence of new British talent in the swimming is a boost in Paralympic year.

There were world records for newcomers Sam Hynd and Heather Frederiksen while one of the more experienced campaigner Natalie Jones also beat her world best in a thrilling battle with team-mate Nyree Lewis, who claimed a new PB by a second and a half in the SM6 200m individual medley.

- Although I have spoken to South African amputee a number of times, her humble yet determined attitude to life never fails to inspire. Having qualified for the open water event at the Beijing Olympics she will be the first amputee to compete at the Olympics and I think everyone involved in Paralympic sport hopes that she can make a big impact there.

- The basketball competition maybe threw up more questions than answers. The for Beijing will be announced later this week so men's coach Murray Treseder and women's coach Garry Peel used the tournament as part of their selection process.

The men won silver after losing to the USA in a thrilling final but there is still a heavy dependence on their key duo Simon Munn and Jon Pollock, which is something that will be a concern if GB are to match or improve on their .

- While Dave Weir grabbed the headlines in the athletics with two golds, a word of praise must go to the GB throwers who won five medals - two golds, a silver and two bronzes in their events at the Regional Arena.

Discus thrower Chris Martin, who retired from the sport after Athens but returned last year and is still top of the tree, and Athens shot putt silver medallist Danny West won golds to mark them out as gold-medal hopes in Beijing.

Three-time Paralympic club champion had to be content with silver this time but will want to make it four wins in Beijing while Richard Schabel won two bronzes.

With a little more than 100 days to go to the start of the Games, the main message is that things are looking good but there is no room for complacency with plenty of work still to be done.