Rio passed the Paralympic Games baton to Tokyo on Sunday night – and Great Britain’s victorious athletes immediately set their sights on inspiring the next generation of talent for 2020.
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The upbeat mood in Rio, however, was darkened late on Saturday by the death of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48.
Becca Meyers reacts after winning the women’s 400-meter freestyle S13 final at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on September 12, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
KYIV. Sept 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Paralympics team finished competition in the Paralympics Games in Rio de Janeiro winning 117 medals, of which 41 were gold medals, 37 silver and 39 bronze.
But nobody could have imagined the success the 308-strong Chinese delegation would achieve in Rio as they became only the third country to win 100 gold medals in a single edition of the Paralympic Games. Carlos Nuzman, head of the Rio Olympic organizing committee, said in a statement.
She said: “It was incredible, we got on so well in ParalympicsGB and it is so nice to be able to support them”.
“These Games signify a very bright future for this youthful and wonderful nation”.
The Iranian flag was lowered to half-staff in the Paralympic Village, and at the venue where Iran faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in a men’s sitting volleyball final on Sunday.
Watching the marathon along the seafront in Copacabana earlier, spectator Marcelo Augusto Miranda Costa said the Games had been “a moment of magic for the city”.
“It would go a long way in making them happy and also give encouragement to others like them that they can also earn a living through sports”.
In the end, officials said they sold 2.1 million tickets, fewer than in London four years ago but more than Beijing in 2008. Part of that success, however, was due to many tickets being sold for as little as $3 – or given away to school children in an worldwide fill-the-seats campaign.
Philip Craven, the International Paralympic Committee president, called the tragedy “truly heart-breaking”.
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The county Down woman, 20, produced a dominant swim to win the S14 200m individual medley to bring her medal haul up to three gold and a silver. However, Centrowitz won in what was by Olympic standards a near-record slow race, meaning Baka’s outstanding time was of mostly symbolic significance.
