Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

[FAAN]

1,600,000 (64%) tickets sold so far. 20% were sold to foreigners.

http://www.bemparana.com.br/noticia/463161/paraolimpiada-ja-tem-16-milhao-de-ingressos-vendidos

[Alexjc]

Opening Ceremony ready to go...

[Durban Sandshark]

Just can't help but think how sad it is to have some Olympic/Paralympic venues closed during the Paralympics right now. Maybe, as David Wallenchinsky proposes, have the Paralympics first and then the Olympics in the future. Perhaps at least to enhance its TV coverage in some important markets when there's little top-tier sports competition that would grab the national masses' attention and test the venues out better and further.

[JMarkSnow2012]

Good crowd in the Velodrome just now- and plenty of people enjoying themselves in the Park too. Rio may be about to get used to the sheer enjoyability of the Paralympics.

[Alexjc]

Swimming.

Amazing to watch but am wondering why China seems to be too good?

[JMarkSnow2012]

50 minutes ago, Alexjc said:

Swimming.

Amazing to watch but am wondering why China seems to be too good?

Should we be wondering about China (population 1.4 billion, so far 15 gold medals) or GB (population 65 million, so far 11 gold medals) ?

[Alexjc]

1 hour ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Should we be wondering about China (population 1.4 billion, so far 15 gold medals) or GB (population 65 million, so far 11 gold medals) ?

It's when you start seeing China 1,2,3, or consistantly in a medal place, or winning by huge margins you have to think what's in the "water".

The mixed 50m Relay results must have raised your eyebrows.

[A-Money1983]

I'm really not upset at all about the TV coverage.  It would be nice if the sports were bumped up from NBCSN to NBC, and not shown at the wee hours of the morning, bur right now-  it's wishful thinking.  It's still more coverage than what we received in Sochi, and *substantially* more than what we had on London, where 99% of what I saw was on the computer (expect for NBC's recap show which aired a full week later).

TeamUSA.org has also been solid in terms of showing all of the United States highlights, and I have yet to miss any event.

[A-Money1983]

If you are checking off every sport down the list, as I am, you can also go to YouTube -> search for desired sport-> and filter results by "Today".

There are also clips on TeamUSA's YouTube page, and some on ParalympicSport.TV.  Social media feeds are pretty consistent as well.

[Sir Rols]

Quick question - not that I'm really interested in the paras, but looked at the medal tally and saw the Netherlands listed twice with an asterisk in both - but no explanation. Anyone know the deal with that?

[FAAN]

167,000 people today at the Olympic Park!

A record for both the 2016 Olympics and Paralympic Games. The record during the Olympic Games last month was 158,000.

Rio 2016 Paralympic ticket sales exceed 1.8 million
The Games are now the second biggest ever in terms of ticket sales, overtaking Beijing 2008.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games have now sold more than 1.8 million tickets, overtaking Beijing 2008 as the second biggest Games ever in terms of ticket sales.

On the first day of competition on Thursday (8 September) 105,000 people attended venues on the Barra Olympic Park, while a further 66,000 tickets were sold for upcoming days of competition.

Today, 144,000 tickets have been sold for the Barra Olympic Park and the second evening of track and field at the Olympic Stadium is sold out. With Saturday evening’s session also sold out in athletics, the IPC are working with the Organising Committee to increase capacity in the venue. Earlier this month, the venue capacity was reduced as a result of cuts to Rio 2016’s service levels.

https://www.paralympic.org/news/rio-2016-paralympic-ticket-sales-exceed-18-million

[FAAN]

Some of yesterday's crowds:

[JMarkSnow2012]

8 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

Quick question - not that I'm really interested in the paras, but looked at the medal tally and saw the Netherlands listed twice with an asterisk in both - but no explanation. Anyone know the deal with that?

That doesn't seem to be the case on the official medal tally page now

[gamesnz]

Found this on another forum. Article on The Guardian

There were fears during the buildup that these Games would ruin London’s legacy for disability sport but that could not be further from the truth at the moment. The streets around the Olympic Park were packed with supporters wearing their yellow shirts and waving Brazilian flags, creating a wonderful atmosphere. Volunteers greeted arriving spectators with a smile and there was a positive energy inside the venues.
 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/sep/10/rio-2016-paralympic-games-ticket-sales-rise

[FAAN]

Olympic Park

All pictures were taken by the forumer @brazilian001 from Skyscrapercity.

September 10

Some other from Flickr official accounts:

Rio 2016 - Torcida by Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro, on Flickr

Rio 2016 - Torcida by Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro, on Flickr

Rio 2016 - Torcida by Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro, on Flickr

September 11

ParqueOlimpico by Ministerio do Esporte, on Flickr

[The Tower Bridge Fox]

Starting to remind me of London

Richard whitehead lap of honor

[thatsnotmypuppy]

I've actually been impressed by the crowd size - obviously the top deck in athletics/swimming isn't being used - however for some Olympic events those seats were barely used.

I like that they've caught on - having attended a couple of Paralympics it is a far more relateable (spelling?) event.

[neneu10]

medal table so far

 

[Alexjc]

Well...Halfway through and I have to say Rio has put on a great games. Comparison with London is sort of unfair as 2012 were a "home games". Very happy with crowd numbers in a more relaxed atmosphere. And only on a fraction of the Olympic budget.

[gotosy]

Four Paralympic athletes ran 1,500-meter final faster than anyone at Rio Olympics

 

By Des Bieler September 13 at 12:35 AM

Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka wins gold in the men’s 1,500-meter T13 final during the Paralympic Games. (Bob Martin/OIS, IOC via Associated Press)

Fouad Baka may well have been disappointed at finishing fourth Sunday in the men’s T13-class 1,500 meters at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, meaning that he missed the podium and a coveted medal. But the Algerian athlete could take some consolation in the fact that his time of 3:49.84 was faster than that run by the 1,500-meter winner in the same stadium at the Rio Olympics.

That’s right — not only did Baka best the gold medal-winning time (3:50.00) posted last month by American Matthew Centrowitz, but three other Paralympians did even better. The class in which they competed, T13, is among those for the visually impaired, and they weren’t using blades or any devices unavailable to Olympic athletes.

Abdellatif Baka, Fouad’s brother, won the event in a time of 3:48.29 seconds, a T13 world record. He held off Ethiopia’s Tamiru Demisse, who took silver in 3:48.49, and Kenya’s Henry Kirwa won bronze with a time of 3:49.59.

“It wasn’t easy to get this gold medal,” Baka said. “I’ve been working one or two years non-stop and it’s been very, very hard for me.”

Of course, it’s worth noting that the pace in the Olympic 1,500 meters was deliberately slow, resulting from Centrowitz’s strategy of shooting to the front of the pack early on and then using his position to force a relatively plodding pace. “It’s like youth level, really. . . . It was beyond slow,” Great Britain’s Charlie Grice, who finished 12th, said after that race.

In his first qualifying round in Rio, Centrowitz ran a 3:39.31, with the fastest time, 3:38.31, run by Jakub Holusa of the Czech Republic. The world record, set in 1998 by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, is 3:26.00.

Nevertheless, the Paralympians have much to be proud of, starting with the determination that got them to Rio in the first place. And the four top finishers can always say they out-ran the Olympic gold medal winner.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/09/13/four-paralympics-athletes-ran-1500-meter-final-faster-than-anyone-at-rio-olympics/

[Mainad]

Does anyone know why China does so well at the Paralympics? They always top the table well ahead of everyone else. They've already notched up many more medals than they won at the Olympics. Obviously China must put a lot of money and resources into training its Paralympic athletes. I guess I'm pleasantly surprised me that they put so much effort into them, far more so than, say, the United States which normally top any medal table for Olympic-type sporting events.

Am enjoying these Paras a lot (never understood why so many people on here ignore them or put them down) and, again, relieved and pleasantly surprised that they are turning out such a success in contrast to all the gloomy predictions beforehand. Well done, Rio!

 

[TeamBlakeUSA]

4 Paralympic Nations Got Their First Paralympic Medal.

[Alexjc]

China did send a HUGE team... And yes you do have to enter a grey area in performance. Naturally many of these athletes are on medication to ease their unique disabilities, so a little manipulation is to be had?

No one seems to look at Ukraine? They are way up on the table as well. With no Russia clearly we are seeing askew results.

Still...I find it utterly amazing watching paralympians take on and defeat the odds stacked against them. In some cases as simple as a melformed arm or in Sophie Pascoe's case missing a lower leg...and is now NZs premiere female swimmer...and if only she was fully formed, what an Olympic champion she would've been.

[JMarkSnow2012]

2 hours ago, Alexjc said:

China did send a HUGE team... And yes you do have to enter a grey area in performance. Naturally many of these athletes are on medication to ease their unique disabilities, so a little manipulation is to be had?

No one seems to look at Ukraine? They are way up on the table as well. With no Russia clearly we are seeing askew results.

Still...I find it utterly amazing watching paralympians take on and defeat the odds stacked against them. In some cases as simple as a melformed arm or in Sophie Pascoe's case missing a lower leg...and is now NZs premiere female swimmer...and if only she was fully formed, what an Olympic champion she would've been.

In terms of medals per head of population, Ukraine, GB, Australia and New Zealand may be about where they should be, while China, the USA, Brazil and Germany are all underperforming !

[gotosy]

Alex Zanardi wins Paralympic gold on eve of 15-year anniversary of crash

 

Alex Zanardi, the former open-wheel auto-racing champion, repeated as Paralympic hand-cycling time trial gold medalist on Wednesday, the day before the 15-year anniversary of his horrific car crash.

Zanardi, 49, prevailed out of a 10-man field in 28 minutes, 36.81 seconds, covering the 20km course in Rio. He won by 2.74 seconds, making up 20 seconds after the 10km split.

“Normally I don’t thank God for these type of things as I believe God has more important stuff to worry about, but today is too much, I had to raise my eyes and thank him,” Zanardi said. “I feel very lucky, I feel my life is a never-ending privilege.”

Zanardi won his third Paralympic gold medal and fourth overall, adding to his New York City Marathon and world championship titles, plus his 2014 Ironman World Championships completion.

All this after Zanardi, the 1997 and 1998 CART series champion, lost both of his legs and was read his last rites after one of the scariest crashes in auto-racing history on Sept. 15, 2001.

Zanardi said he went 50 minutes with less than one liter of blood, and his heart stopped beating seven times.

“At the time I was asked if I would ever step back in a race car, but what was very important for me was to go into the bathroom and pee on my own, but I could not do that. I had to be helped,” Zanardi said. “That was my No. 1 priority. Day by day I managed to regain control and strength, regain some confidence and concentrate on different things and here I am now.”

Zanardi will attempt to repeat as Paralympic road race champion in his class on Thursday.

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2016/09/14/alex-zanardi-paralympics-time-trial/