Flags have been lowered to half-mast across the Paralympic village since news of Golbarnezhad’s death broke on Saturday.
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“The IPC confirm that Golbarnezhad, 48, was involved in a crash at around 10.40 on the first section of the Grumari loop, a mountainous stretch of the course”, the International Paralympic Committee said.
“The Brazil we love so much has shown the world what it can do”.
“Tonight, I would like you to join me in paying our condolences to his family, friends, his team-mates and the people of Iran”.
The closing ceremony of what will be remembered as the people’s Games kicked off at Rio’s famed Maracana stadium on Sunday (Monday AEST).
“And we are going to present this gold medal to the soul of Bahman Golbarnezhad”.
“This year Vanuatu made the decision they felt they did not have an athlete ready to take a wildcard so they rejected the wildcard – they felt it was more important to develop at the grassroots level.it’s a pity they didn’t at least have maybe their developing athlete there to experience and understand what it’s about”. It was her fourth gold medal spread over four Paralympic Games, including shot put gold at London 2012 and gold in javelin at Beijing 2008 and Sydney 2000.
It overshadowed a Paralympics that dealt with both a funding and doping crisis to be a success, saving the Games experience for the Brazilian public after the scandal-marred Olympics.
While they have attracted less attention than the stars of the 2016 Summer Oympics last month, such as gold-winning swimmer Sun Yang or the exuberant bronze medal swimmer Fu Yuanhui, they have done their more famous fellow athletes one better. He also wished good luck to Tokyo, who will be the next city to host the games.
As the next Paralympic flame was extinguished, it officially brought the end to the first Paralympics held in South America, The next Olympics and Paralympics will take place in 2020 in Tokyo. “This journey has been wonderful for me and my entire family, I am proud to be the oldest athlete in the team and win a medal”, Deepa told IANS immediately after her silver medal feat, which she won with a personal best throw of 4.61 metres.
Golbarnezhad’s tragic death has indeed cast a shadow over Rio 2016 and it’s not one that is likely to fade away any time soon.
Members of the audience sit in front of the Paralympic Cauldron wrapped in plastic against the rain during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
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Sir Philip has said that the IPC “will look at what might need to be done for the future” and that is now what matters – taking all the necessary measures to make sure the same scenario doesn’t occur again.
