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The 2012 Summer Down Under Wheelchair Track and Road Racing is sponsored by GIO Insurance. 2012 is the 23rd year of the Series, hosted by Wheelchair Sports NSW. The Series is returning to a dual city format with training and international standard racing events in Canberra and Sydney. The Canberra Track meet will see the athletes compete at the Australian Institute of Sport Track on Saturday 21 and Sunday 20 January for a full track program; 100m to 10,000m program. The athletes will also compete at a Track Event on Tuesday 24 January 2012 at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre. The 2012 Track Event will include sprints and distance racing for the elite racer and the developing athlete. The iconic Oz Day 10K is an official Australia Day Council event in Sydney, with 2 x 5K loops through the Rocks district on Thursday 26 January 2012 at 9.00am There are 6 categories of athletes competing: - Open Men (T53/T54) - Open Women (T53/T54) - Masters (Over 40 years) - Quad Men (T52) - Quad Women (T52) - Junior (18 yrs and under) The 2012 GIO Summer Down Under Series has a total prize pool of $AUD 25,000 In the Open Men's category, Beijing Paralympic Marathon gold medalist Kurt Fearnley will be defending his Oz Day 10K title. Fearnley has competed in every Oz Day 10K since 1996 before tasting victory in 2005, and he is keen to make 2012 his 8th consecutive title. Kurt's major competition in the 2012 GIO Oz Day 10K will be Josh Cassidy (Canada), Roger Puigbo Verdaguer (Spain), Kota Hokinoue and Nobukazu Hanaoka (Japan) In the Open Women's category, the 2009 Oz Day 10K champion and NSW athlete, Christie Dawes is returning to Oz Day following the birth of her son Charlie now 1 year old, against strong competition from Swiss, USA and Great Britain racers. Christie's main competition will come from Diane Roy (Canada), Edith Hunkeler (Switzerland) and Shelley Woods (UK). Two 15 yr olds are the youngest competitors in the race. Rheed McCracken is from Queensland and Kristy Pond is from NSW. Competitors are travelling from all over Australia (WA, QLD, VIC, SA, ACT and metro and regional NSW), Canada, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA and Korea (12 countries). ENTRY to ALL the Track and Road Events are FREE. http://www.gio.com.au/car-insurance