Paralympian and World record holder Richard Whitehead is urging athletes to sign up for the talent identification campaign Talent 2012: Paralympic Potential. The campaign, which closes on Monday 11 January, has attracted hundreds of applications from athletes aiming to find out if they have what it takes to be fast-tracked into an elite sporting programme in the lead up to the London games.

Whitehead, a congenital double leg amputee, became the first ever leg amputee to break 3 hours for the marathon last March in Rome with a time of 2:56.45. Now he has signed up to Talent 2012 Paralympic Potential and is encouraging other talented athletes to do the same via http://www.uksport.gov.uk/talent.

He said: “2012 is massive. The impact on your life from going to a Paralympic Games is amazing, its life changing.  This is an opportunity to compete at the pinnacle of sport and for the sake of a few minutes filling out an application form and going to a talent day you might have the opportunity of a lifetime. The door might be closed in the future if you don’t walk through it now.”

Whitehead has attended several ParalympicsGB talent days during a career which has seen him compete at both the summer and winter Paralympic games. As well as running, he also currently plays Sitting Volleyball, has competed as an elite swimmer and done triathlons.

He added: “My pathway in sport started in swimming but I have transferrable skills that apply to other sports, and that’s why I go to the talent days. I think this is a positive initiative, it identifies new talent and pushes established athletes to earn their places.”

Talent 2012: Paralympic Potential is being undertaken as a collaboration between UK Sport, the English Institute of Sport and ParalympicsGB.The closing date for applications is this Monday, 11th January 2010 and talent assessment days are taking place for various sports during January and February.

Successful applicants will be invited to attend an assessment day, which offers the opportunity to put themselves in front of the country’s top sports scientists and coaches from a range of sports, who will decide if they have what it takes to be fast tracked into elite sport.