The entire Russian Paralympic team has been barred from the games as punishment for state-backed doping in the country.
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The opening ceremony of the fifteenth Summer Paralympic Games has been held in “Maracana” Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia on September 8, at 02:00 in Baku.
If we found the Olympics uplifting, then the Paralympics promises to be an even better event.
According to the agency, 263 athletes are taking part in the event, competing in 18 sports.
Wednesday’s opening ceremony began with Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham, a USA athlete who is in a wheelchair, rolling down from a massive ramp in the Maracana stadium’s stands to perform a back flip through a giant ring.
Russian Federation has opened an alternative event for national Paralympians banned from the Paralympic Games in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.
Among them was former Brazilian Paralympic medalist Marcia Malsar, who fell over backwards as she carried the torch across the floor with aid of a cane.
Missing out on a medal at London 2012 nearly convinced her to hang up her rifle, but the temptation to add to her 13 medals proved too tantalizing.
The winners of the competition are expected to receive the same prizes and awards they would have gotten for their successes at the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Organisers say tickets sales have been booming. This follows concerns about half-empty stadiums at numerous Olympics events.
“How can Rio de Janeiro be compared with the Moscow Games?”
But organizers have reported a dramatic turnaround in the last few days. The goal is 2.4 million.
Six countries are sending athletes for the very first time, and Syrian swimmer Ibrahim Al-Hussein, who lost a leg in an explosion in his nation’s civil war, and Iranian discus thrower Shahrad Nasajpour make up a two-strong refugee team.
The record of 41 career gold medals won by blind American swimmer Trischa Zorn between 1980 and 2004 looks unbeatable, but the Paralympics will inevitably produce new stars.
Malaysia’s participation in the Paralympics started in 1972 when three athletes competed in the Paralympics hosted by Germany in Heidelberg.
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This year’s Paralympics are the biggest ever and will see 4,300 representing 160 teams from around the world compete.
