A glittery and visually appealing closing ceremony marked the end of Paralympics at Maracana Stadium in Brazilian City, Rio de Janeiro today.
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It was a successful Paralympic Games for Canadian athletes in Rio with Team Canada surpassing its goal.
Kadeena Cox landed four medals, two of them gold, at her maiden Games, two years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“I’m looking forward to getting home and showing as many people as possible these medals – letting them hold them, wear them and have photos with them – which is what it is all about”.
For now though, Paralympics Ireland can rightly bask in their Rio efforts, with Harbison going so far as to suggest these Games should be viewed positively when set against London’s record-breaking results.
A total of 263 athletes took part in the two-day tournament, competing in 18 sports.
The Paralympics had some inspiring stories and remarkable performances.
President of the International Olympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven, has said, “The Paralympic family is united in grief at this horrendous tragedy, which casts a shadow over what have been great Paralympic Games here in Rio”.
One of the first performers at the ceremony was Jonathan Bastos, a Brazilian who was born without arms but has become an accomplished musician, playing instruments with his feet.
He added: “Whether it is producing worldwide award winning TV advertisements promoting Paralympic sport, recruiting on and off screen talent with an impairment or delivering Bafta award winning coverage, Channel 4 fully understands that its coverage is not only enthralling audiences but changing attitudes towards people with an impairment”.
The swimmer-turned-cyclist, whose career total of 14 golds saw her surpass Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson’s record of 11, said: “You all go into a bubble (in the athletes’ village) and all the athletes come together and came together really well”. President Michel Temer, who had just taken power after his rival Dilma Rousseff was thrown out of office in an impeachment vote, was loudly booed by the crowd at both at the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies.
He died after crashing in the C4-5 event at the Paralympics on Saturday, the first such death at the Games since they began in 1960. The 32-year-old has competed at three Summer Paralympic Games and has won a bronze in the London Paralympics edition.
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Host nation Brazil finished a disappointing eighth with 72 medals and fourteen golds.
