The immense low following the Olympic games Closing Ceremony has begun, as the 2 week live coverage of Rio 2016, with frequent news-updates on the same, sadly had to come to an end.
However, something great lies just beyond the horizon. Daily world-class sporting events will soon return for your enjoyment: The Paralympics are coming!
So what are the Paralympics? This are Olympic sporting events, specially crafted for the Handicapped. In 1948, the first wheelchair bound athletes got to hold parallel sporting events to the olympics, thus starting the new age of sporting competition. However, not until 1960, did the games attain a regular time slot of every 4 years, having sat out the previous 12. It was at the 1988 games in Korea, that the term ‚Paralympics‘, first came into use. At the 1992 games, the Olympic committee officially recognised the Paralympics as a part of the olympics, scheduling the games to commence 3 weeks after the closing of the Olympic closing ceremony itself- at the same venue.
September the 7th marks the beginning of the 15th edition of the Paralympics. Rio de Janeiro will host 4350 athletes from 176 different countries, with 23 Sporting events at 21 different locations, taking place. 2 events will feature for the very 1st time, namely Para-canoeing and Para-Triathlon. A total of 528 medals, are expected to be won at the Paralympics 2016, a new record in its own rights.
Trailer to the Paralympics 2016:
The IPC (International Paralympics Committee), recently decided to exclude Russian athletes from this year’s Paralympics. In addition, other problems which plagued the widely successful Olympics, also feature in the Paralympics. Budget cuts by the government coupled with security loopholes in the city, continue to worry organisers. How will the Paralympics fare without Russia? How many spectators will show up at the venues? Will the majority of the Brazilian spectators continue to only cheer for their own teams? Many questions remain a mystery. We can hardly wait to see which athletes triumph, and how things fare this time round.
Selected events will be available for viewing live on the internet. whatislive.com users, have the advantage of having the entire sporting program and live streams, at their disposal.
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Sources:
https://presseportal.zdf.de/pm/paralympics-2016-live-im-zdf/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympische_Spiele
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommer-Paralympics_2016