KYRON Duke expects a “pretty crazy” atmosphere at the London Stadium over the next ten days, as the 2012 Paralympic Games venue hosts this year’s World Para Athletics Championships.

The action gets under way today and comes to a climax on Sunday, July 23, with British athletes expected to shine on the big stage once more.

Cwmbran double Paralympian Duke will again go in search of a maiden major championship gold when he competes in the men’s F41 shot put next Thursday.

Duke won bronze in the same discipline when the event was held in Lyon four years ago, while he also claimed javelin silver at the same championships and has four world medals in all.

Returning to the scene of his Paralympic debut in 2012 will bring back plenty of fond memories for the former Commonwealth Games powerlifter.

He was fifth in the shot put then and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of taking part in such a huge competition on home soil – and he can’t wait to be in a similar environment this time around.

“The atmosphere at London 2012 was mental,” he said. “It’s obviously your home crowd and they were all cheering for us.

“They saw a GB vest and the whole place erupted, it was like a wall of sound hitting you and made you tingle from head to toe.

“It made my performance levels 10 times better, gave me more adrenaline and made me want it more.

“You’re not just competing for yourself but for the country and everyone watching, and you want to put on the best performance you can for them.

“There’s not going to be 80,000 there this time, there’s not as many seats as there were five years ago.

“But ticket sales, from what we’ve heard, are doing pretty well so it’s still going to be pretty crazy.

“It won’t be as big a crowd as 2012 but it’s still a home crowd and everyone is there for us.”

Duke, who was also fifth in the shot put at last year’s Rio Paralympics, will be cheered on in London by his partner, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews.

Given the way training has gone, Duke’s relatives could well see him set another personal best, just weeks after throwing 12.58m, the furthest he has ever managed.

In fact, that distance is 134cms further than his best effort at the London Paralympics five years ago.

However, Rio champion Niko Kappel and silver medallist Bartosz Tyszkowski – the two were separated by just one centimetre in Brazil – will also be staking a claim for gold.

The German and Pole were head and shoulders above the rest last September and are going to be tough nuts to crack if Duke wants to stand on the top step of the podium.