Paralympians competing in Rio will inspire and excite the world as the Games get under way, those who gathered to watch the spectacular opening ceremony have been told.
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Wheelchair daredevil Aaron Wheelz showed the spirit in the opening act at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
“The Paralympic sports in Russia will continue receiving support, attention and care on behalf of the authorities”, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said at an official opening ceremony of the alternative games organized by the Russian authorities outside Moscow.
However, as the first fireworks exploded and then disappeared into the sky above Brazil’s iconic Maracana stadium, those worries became a distant memory.
Recall that during the parade of nations at the Maracana stadium at Wednesday night’s opening ceremony, Belarusian team’s javelin thrower Alexander Tryputs carried the flag of Russian Federation along with their national flag. “Paralympic sport and athletes are incredibly inspiring and we are honored to showcase their athletic excellence”.
In the end, Brazilian swimmer Klodoaldo Silva lit the torch of Paralympic Games.
What followed was four hours of color, samba and 4,300 Paralympic athletes partying their way into the night – those that didn’t have to be up early to compete that is.
The lead-up to this year’s Paralympics was met with major financial issues in Brazil though that were attributed mainly to tepid sponsor interest and poor ticket sales.
The five-time Paralympian said: ” At a Games full of inspiring stories, yours may well be the most inspiring of all”.
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.
Russia’s Paralympians took second place in the unofficial medal table at the London Games in 2012.
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The entire Russian Paralympic team has been barred from the games as punishment for state-backed doping in the country.
