“It’s been an absolutely brilliant opening ceremony”.
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Artists recreate a beach scene, an image quintessential to Rio, during the opening ceremony. Earlier protests over the last two years brought millions of Brazilians to the streets to ask for the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff.
On behalf of all Canadians, I wish much success to all the athletes, coaches and support personnel representing Canada at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
But all those worries were set aside for the sporting extravaganza.
“Rio is powered by its people and the Carioca will know what these Games will do to drive the force of inclusion”.
Viewers will see empowering performances during the next 11 days, the head of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Philip Craven said.
Until Sept. 18, more than 4,300 athletes from 160 countries are competing in 22 sports as the Paralympic Games showcases athletes who, like their Olympic counterparts, have strived for athletic excellence, but have had to overcome various physical impairments in the process.
With a single piano, the maestro Joao Carlos Martins was in charge of adding music to the anthem of Brazil and the hoisting of the flag of the country.Then, one by one, representatives from the 164 participating countries paraded around the stadium, including Ibrahim Al Hussein, a Syrian refugee who joins the Paralympics as an independent athlete.
“In a country which has faced major challenges of late, Paralympians will switch your focus from perceived limitations – to a world full of possibility and endless opportunity”, Craven said.
The passion of this helped influential official Marcia Malsar to her feet as she fell while carrying the torch.
Nevertheless, for the athletes it’s all about elevating the global profile of the games.
The 36-year-old was the first female American soldier to lose limb in active combat during the Iraq War and is now competing in her third Games after making her debut at Beijing 2008.
The IOC chief said he had to miss the ceremony to attend a state mourning ceremony in Germany for Walter Scheel, the former West Germany president.
There was an audible gasp in the 78,000-seat stadium as extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham propelled himself in a wheelchair down a six-storey high ramp and through a hoop.
Russian Federation lost its appeal against a ban from the Rio Paralympics because of a state-sponsored doping program, CAS said on August 23.
The ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron by Brazilian Paralympic swimmer Clodoaldo Silva.
BPA boss Tim Hollingsworth said no advantage was being sought for Britain’s 264 athletes in Rio.
Russian para-athletes, who finished second behind China in the London 2012 medals table, were barred last month following a World Anti-Doping Agency report that alleged a vast state-sponsored doping program.
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.
Organizers say tickets sales have been booming.
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Empty seats and half-empty stadiums was one of the headlines the Olympic Games could never quite escape from.
