DOHA, Qatar - Louisiana Tech sprinter Jaquvis Hart will represent the United States of America next week as he was selected to compete for Team USA at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

Hart, nicknamed JQ, will compete in the 400m dash semifinals on Oct. 22 with a chance to advance to the finals on Oct. 23. The semifinals are scheduled to begin at approximately 10:15 a.m. Central/6:15 p.m. Arabian on Oct. 22. To adjust to the time difference and prepare for the competition, Hart traveled to Doha on Wednesday.

He is the only American in his classification of the 400m and will be competing against athletes from Angola, Austria, Brazil, China, Cyprus, Cuba, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Nambia, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Rwanda, Turkey and Venezuela.

The winner of the Courage Award at the TECHSPY's in May, Hart enters next week's competition with a personal best time of 47.76 in the 400m which he set at the Conference USA Championships in 2014 in Houston.

Hart was born without the lower half of his left arm but still competes for Louisiana Tech's track and field team, refusing to allow his disability to slow him down. He often claims he does not have a disability, preferring to compete on the same track as anyone else.

A product of Shreveport's Airline High School, Hart lettered in football, wrestling and track and received all-state honors in both track and wrestling. He was a state champion in track and a two-time city champion in wrestling.

The IPC Athletics World Championships is a biennial event (formerly held every four years) organized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Athletes with a physical disability compete, and in a few events athletes with an intellectual disability compete. The first UPC Athletics World Championships was held in Berlin, Germany in 1994. This year's championships marks the seventh championship competition with the 2013 event held in Lyon, France and the 2017 event scheduled for London.

Hart is the first Louisiana Tech student-athlete to represent Team USA since Chelsea Hayes competed in the long jump at the XXX Olympiad in London.

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