The total medal haul increased by eight from the 2012 London Games, but it was the first time that Japan has failed to win a gold medal since it first joined the Paralympics in the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Advertisement
“We have had the most competitive team at the most competitive Games resulting in second place on the medal table with 147 medals, 64 of those gold”.
However, sad news broke out on Saturday in para-cycling when Iran’s Bahman Golbarnezhad shockingly died after a horrific crash in the men’s C4/C5 road race.
Sir Philip Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), led tributes to the Iranian cyclist, whose death he described as “extremely tragic”.
The Japanese say that the Rio Games have set a high standard for them to follow.
Olympic cycling’s golden couple Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, runner Mo Farah, and swimmer Adam Peaty, plus Paralympic champions Dame Sarah Storey, Kadeena Cox, Jonnie Peacock, Lee Pearson and Will Bayley are among the sporting heroes from Rio 2016.
Brazilian officials handed over the flag to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as the 11 day long global sports event ended today.
The video looked back at the 1964 Tokyo Games and communicated changes in social attitudes brought about by the Paralympics.
Performers take part in the closing ceremony.
“We made it our mission to win this and to devote this match to him and his family so at least it would be something to console them”.
“The Brazil we love so much has shown the world what it can do”.
Eleven days of competition where China dominated the medals table, followed by Britain, ended earlier with the last few events, including marathons and wheelchair rugby.
Receiving the athletes, the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youths and Sports, Luka Jonathan, congratulated the athletes for making the country proud.
China also had unprecedented success in events such as wheelchair racing – winning 16 finals – and wheelchair fencing, which yielded nine gold medals. This was the first tragedy of its kind in Paralympic Games history.
And tensions over a ban imposed by the International Paralympic Committee on the entire Russian team because of alleged state doping remain.
Golbarnezhad, who had come in 14th in the Games’ time trial, lost his left leg in the Iran-Iraq War in 1988.
Advertisement
And Brazil’s Daniel Dias claimed an historic 24th medal in the pool, sending locals into a frenzy which capped the Games and acted as an antidote to the domestic political, corruption and economic scandals that afflicted the build up.
