Rio de Janeiro opened the Paralympic Games on Wednesday with samba, parading wheelchairs, giant balloons – and loud booing of Brazil’s president – at a sold-out Maracana stadium.
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About 4350 athletes from over 160 countries will compete in 22 sports at the Games.
Of the total number of athletes set to take part, approximately 1650 will be women.
Clodoaldo Silva, a 13-time Brazilian Paralympic medalist swimmer believed to be competing in his final Games, lit the cauldron to ignite the competition that will run through September 18.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, Craven said that the IPC board was unanimous in its verdict against Russian Federation and revealed that he had received messages of support from members of the International Olympic Committee for the tough stance his organisation has taken against doping.
“This is the worst situation that we’ve ever found ourselves in at Paralympic movement”, Craven told The Associated Press.
However, there have been suggestions that the no-show has to do with divisions over the Paralympic committee’s outright ban on Russian athletes after allegations of a state-sanctioned doping program and the IOC’s relatively softer line. Nuzman and Craven when they thanked the Brazil government.
Bach is due at a mourning ceremony in Berlin for the late West German president Walter Scheel. “It started with some humour to show that people with an impairment also laugh, also get themselves into amusing situations, to shatter this stereotype of the sad little person”.
Ticket sales for the Paralympics were slow and organisers…
“Two weeks ago I said we faced unprecedented circumstances and since then we’ve seen unprecedented teamwork”, Craven told a news conference.
In fact, after announcing on Sunday that 1.5 million tickets had been sold, organizers are now hopeful of a complete 2.5 million sell-out. Officials say 159 nations were entered on Wednesday, and in addition a refugee team.
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In Britain alone there is wheelchair racer David Weir, swimmers Ellie Simmonds and Ollie Hynd and cyclist Dame Sarah Storey, who will bid to surpass Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as the British female with the most Paralympic gold medals on Thursday’s opening day. Four years on at London 2012, the hosts claimed 120 medals, 34 of them gold, to finish third in the medal table.
