In a comment posted Sunday on Twitter, President Hassan Rouhani wrote, “The tragic death of Golbarnejad, our beloved cyclist during the Rio Paralympic Games, leaves all of us in sorrow”.
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Among the first performers was Jonathan Bastos, a Brazilian who was born without arms but has became an accomplished musician, playing instruments with his feet. Compared to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the national Para team won one medal less, but in London only seven athletes won medals, while in Rio eight athletes took medals home.
The upbeat mood in Rio, however, was darkened late on Saturday by the death of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48 (pic above).
The victory marked Storey’s third gold of the Games, with her team-mate Crystal Lane taking bronze.
The crash happened on a downhill section and a right-hand bend on Avenida Estado da Guanabara on the hilly Grumari circuit, a spokesman for the Rio 2016 organising committee said.
For the second time in less than a month the Maracana was lit up by a stunning fireworks display as Rio bid farewell to the 2016 Paralympic Games with a spectacular closing ceremony.
Craven had earlier passed the Paralympic flag between the mayor of Rio and governor of Tokyo, the Japanese capital city where the next Games will be held in 2020.
“This is truly heart-breaking news and the thoughts and condolences of the whole Paralympic Movement are with Bahman’s family, friends, and teammates as well as the whole of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Iran”.
A moment of silence was held during Sunday’s closing ceremony.
450,000 – dollars raised by the #FilltheSeats campaign – a global crowdfunding initiative which Prince Harry contributed to – to send 15,000 Brazilian kids to the Paralympics.
After being booed in his brief appearance at the opening ceremony, Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer didn’t attend.
Russian athletes were absent – banned by the International Paralympic Committee for state-sponsored doping – but British athletes could only face the opposition present.
Craven warned Sunday that “major change” will be needed from Russian Federation to be allowed back into Paralympic competition.
“It’s a great feeling to know that I’ll be standing at the front of such an exceptional group of athletes from GB, to represent what has been such a successful and high-achieving team”, said Cox.
“More severely disabled athletes from China have competed in Rio”.
South Korean athletes won four gold medals from swimming and one each from judo, table tennis and boccia at the Rio Paralympics. 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.
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By the end of competition on Saturday in Brazil, China had won a total of 237 medals, including 105 gold, compared with the second-place United Kingdom’s total of 147 medals, including 64 gold.
