After hosting a successful Olympic Games from August 5-21, Rio De Janeiro is now getting ready to host the second biggest event in the world, the Paralympic Games. Paralympic is a major international multisport event which gives athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities, a chance to reach for the stars. These Games will be held from September 7th to September 18th.
In Brazil, over 4,000 athletes will be competing in the first edition of the South American Paralympic Games. The Games will be the fifteenth Summer Paralympic Games overall where disabled athletes compete according to the guidelines given by the International Paralympic Committee. The Games in Rio will also be the first Summer Paralympics to be held during the host city's wintertime.
We have put together some interesting facts about the Paralympic Games:
#1 The Games in numbers
SPORTS – 23
EVENTS – 528
VENUES – 21
COUNTRIES – 176
Here are some of the lesser known facts about the Paralympic Games:
At the Rio Paralympic Games, there will be a total of 23 sports in which the athletes will be participating. These 23 sports will be further divided into a staggering 528 events which will be conducted across 21 different venues. The Games will be featuring over 4000 athletes from 176 different countries of the world.
Athletes from 165 different countries had competed at last time’s Summer Paralympics in London 2012 which was 19 more than at Beijing in 2008. Around 4200 athletes had taken part in 20 sports at 20 venues in 503 medal events with over two million tickets for spectators four years ago.
USA’s swimmer Trischa Zorn tops the all-time Paralympics medals table with 55 medals in total out of which 41 are gold.
In 2008, South African distance swimmer Natalie Du Toit became the second person to compete in both Paralympics and Summer Olympics. She became the first athlete ever to carry her country’s flag at the Opening Ceremonies of both the Games.
When Rome first hosted the Paralympic Games after the finish of the Olympic Games, there were only 5,000 spectators who watched the opening Ceremony. However, the 2012 Opening Ceremony had up to 80,000 spectators and the Rio Opening Ceremony will have close to 75000 people inside the stadium.
#2 Visually impaired Jason Smyth broke the world record in 2012
Ireland’s Jason Smyth had clocked a world record at London 2012 as he became the fastest Paralympian on the planet with his feat. The interesting fact about the athlete is that he is visually impaired and still managed to clock the record. Smyth had earned the title of the fastest Paralympian in Beijing 2008 as he clocked a timing of 10.62 seconds to break the former record.
The sprinter went on to better his record as he ran even faster at the London 2012 Games where he finished with a timing of 10.46 seconds. The 29-year old Smyth will now be looking at creating history by getting a hat-trick of gold medals in the 100m event in Rio. Smyth said “he intends to” make an even better record this time.
Smyth will be hitting the track on 8th September on the very first day of athletics competition at Rio 2016, in the heats for the men's 100m in the T13 classification which is for the visually impaired. The Irish is just one of the many Paralympic stars who will be taking part in Paralympics’ athletics events, which form the largest competition at Rio 2016.
All athletics events will take place every day from the first day onwards, ranging from track races to marathons on the roads of Rio. Classic field competitions such as the discus, shot put and javelin throw will also be conducted for the Paralympians. Many athletes will be competing in Rio in wheelchairs or with guides, depending on their level of visual impairment.
#3 Ticket sales for Rio 2016 Paralympic Games has passed the one million mark
Ever since the successful hosting of the Olympic Games by Brazil, there has been a surge in interest for the Brazilians as nearly 100 sessions of the Paralympic Games already sold out. It was reported on Monday (August 29, 2016) that there has been an increase in ticket sales for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games as they have passed the one million mark.
Rio 2016 had sold a total of 133,000 tickets last Tuesday (23 August) which became a new record for the Rio 2016 organising committee, beating the previous best day of 123,000 Olympic tickets sold. The record was broken the next day when 145,000 Paralympic Games tickets were sold, taking the total sold to about 800,000 of the 2.5 million tickets available.
The sale of the tickets indicates that the Olympic Games have had a great impact on the Brazilian public. The fact that their nation won gold medals in beach volleyball, football and volleyball in the last few days of competitions also means that positivity regarding the Paralympics continues to be felt in the city.
It has also been reported that tickets are no longer available for 95 sessions of the Games. Fans wanting to see track cycling, football 5-a-side and triathlon will have to wait for four more years or shift to other sports as the initial allocation has been sold out but more tickets could be made available soon.
The sale of tickets has been particularly strong in swimming, athletics, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. People interested in watching the Games should remember that the prices for tickets range from 10 reais (about $3) to 130 reais.
#4 Internet users to send hashtags to light up Paralympic Torch on epic relay around Brazil
The Paralympic Torch relay will begin on Thursday (1st September) and will visit five cities in Brazil before arriving in Rio de Janeiro for the Opening ceremony. The design of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Torch closely follows the shape of the Olympic Torch but there are some differences in both. The Paralympic Torch relay will represent an innovative variation on the route of the Olympic relay.
The Torch will have five flames along with an additional flame that will be lit this week in the small British town of Stoke Mandeville which is the birthplace of the Paralympic movement. The Games will see all come together in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday (6 September) where it will be prepared for the opening ceremony in the Maracanã stadium.
The interesting feature of the relay is that it will harness the power of modern communication technologies to share the magic of the torch with Brazil and the world. The internet users throughout the world will play a major part in this.
The Games will see each city have hashtags related to Paralympic and Rio 2016 sent by social media users from around the world being used to 'light' the flame virtually: in Brasília, equality; in Belém, determination; in Natal, inspiration; in São Paulo, transformation; and in Joinville, courage.
It is going to be the first and one of a kind torch relay and the value which will be used to light the torch in Rio de Janeiro will be ‘passion’. To participate in the relay, internet users will need to post a message with the official hashtag and the hashtag of the value for the city that day: for example, #ParalympicFlame and #equality.
#5 Two refugee athletes will compete at 2016 Rio Paralympic Games
After the Rio Olympic Games saw the participation of an unprecedented International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsored refugee team, two athletes in the Rio Paralympic Games will also be competing as part of the first ever refugee team in Paralympics. Syrian swimmer and Iranian discus thrower will form an independent team that will compete under the Paralympic flag at the Games.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had announced that two refugee and asylee athletes will be competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The two athletes are –Syrian-born swimmer Ibrahim Al Hussein and Iranian discus thrower who lives in the USA, Shahrad Nasajpour. The two will be a part of the Independent Paralympic Athletes (IPA) team at the Games.
There have been previous instances where athletes have competed as independents at the Paralympic Games, but this will be the first time that those with refugee and asylee status will receive special recognition in a dedicated team guided by a chef de mission, coaches and support staff.
27-year old Al Hussein will be competing in the 50m and 100m freestyle S10 (provisional) as a leg amputee in Rio whereas Nasajpour will compete in the men’s discus (F37 class). The IPA team will be marching first at the opening ceremony in Rio and will have the Paralympic anthem played at their official presentations, such as medal and village welcome ceremonies.
The 2016 Paralympic Games will leave an important legacy in the longer term which will include improved accessibility in public spaces and on public transport. The Games will also help in changing the perceptions towards people with a disability.
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