RPC President Vladimir Lukin said addressing the opening ceremony, held at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, that during the “All-Russian Competitions” all political issues must pale into insignificance.
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Fireworks, musical arrangements, dances and teams marching into the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, marked the commencement of the 2016 Paralympics.
Just as India sent their largest-ever contingent to the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Paralympics Games will also feature 19 athletes from the nation, the highest sent for the event till date.
The athletes’ parade was followed by a concert. He thus became the first athlete to enter the stadium for the 2016 Games.
Rio Paralympics chef-de-mission Dr Ang Kean Koo said he was happy with the preparations and condition of the athletes, assistance from the coaches and the support from the National Sports Institute (ISN).
Each delegation, including independent Paralympic athletes, marched out with a puzzle piece, one side representing the country and the other with images of participating Paralympic athletes. Some 263 athletes will be taking part in the alternative Games.
This year’s Games will also see the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic programme: canoeing and the para-triathlon.
The entire Russian Paralympic team has been barred from the games as punishment for state-backed doping in the country. No accusations of doping have been presented against the members of the Paralympics team, however. As a effect of the decision, the Russian Paralympic Committee lodged several appeals to the IPC, CAS and the Swiss Federal Court. However, all of these appeals were rejected and the Russian Paralympians were prevented from traveling to Brazil for the upcoming Games.
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Russian Federation lost an appeal against the IPC over the blanket ban from the Rio Paralympics after allegations that Russian Federation had covered up hundreds of doping cases.
