Now it’s the turn of the Paralympians to show us what they can do.
Advertisement
Temer took over as president after Dilma Rousseff was removed from office on impeachment charges a week ago by the federal senate.
The 2016 Summer Paralympics opened at Rio’s iconic Maracana Stadium on Wednesday evening, 17 days after the end of the Olympics.
But “Brazilians never give up”, Nuzman said, telling the athletes, “You are superhumans”. The world’s most competitive differently-abled also paraded ahead of 11 days of contests.
However, controversy hung over the opening ceremony after confirmation that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was not attending.
Aucklanders can pop down to Wynyard quarter to support the Paralympic Athletes competing in Rio, or use the official hashtag #spiritofgold to send you messages through.
Political and economic turmoil will be the last thing on the minds of the athletes however as Rio looks to produce new sporting heroes now that London 2012 sprint star Oscar Pistorius is in a South African prison for the killing of his girlfriend.
International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven journeyed from the Paralympic movement’s birthplace of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire in an introductory video.
GB’s Paralympians won 120 medals at London 2012, finishing third behind China and Russian Federation.
Separately, UK Athletics will review classifications after the Games, according to BBC News, following concerns that athletes were being mismatched to create an unfair advantage.
Despite reports of poor ticket sales in the lead-up to the event the Maracana stadium appeared to be full and the crowd was treated to a vibrant show.
Since the Olympic Gamesclosing ceremony on August 21, ticket sales have risen from 300,000 to nearly 1.7 million, Craven said.
Tickets were said to be on offer for $1 and many were being given away to help fill seats as the world tuned in to television pictures from across the world to witness the downfall of the Paralympics. “Our aim is to sell around 2.4 million”, he said.
The overall number of athletes in Rio eclipses the 4,302 participants that took part in London and the 3,951 who were registered in Beijing in 2008.
Iran’s 28-year-old power-lifter Siamand Rahman, disabled since birth, is aiming to become the first Paralympian to bench press 300kg.
In Britain alone there is wheelchair racer David Weir, swimmers Ellie Simmonds and Ollie Hynd and cyclist Dame Sarah Storey, who will bid to surpass Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as the British female with the most Paralympic gold medals on Thursday’s opening day.
The Ministry of Sports further tweeted out that any medal-winning para-athlete will be rewarded with the same amount of cash prizes as the Olympic medallists were.
Powerlifters, basketball players, sprinters, rugby players and others are in Rio for the games and they have all gone there with all our best wishes.
Advertisement
“I think my experiences at the 2011 ParaPan Games in Mexico and 2015 in Canada will be similar to our experience in Rio”, Kusku is quoted as saying in an article on the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes website.
