With Paralympics, Rio Defies the Odds for a Second Time By BEN SHPIGELSEPT. 7, 2016
RIO DE JANEIRO — In an extravaganza that included a human kaleidoscope, a projection of a beach set ablaze and the simultaneous opening of parasols to form an enormous representation of the Brazilian flag, one of the more dazzling moments of the Paralympics opening ceremony Wednesday night occurred before it even began.
The old Maracanã stadium holds nearly 80,000, and though not every seat was filled, the people kept arriving. And whistling. And clapping. And chanting. And doing the wave.
The Cariocas’ interest, and enthusiasm, heralded a celebratory mood for an opening ceremony and a competition nearly overshadowed by the financial troubles, doping scandal and poor ticket sales that threatened to tarnish the profile that Paralympic athletes and officials have tried to cultivate.
In the end, a scaled-back version of the Paralympics began Wednesday on an optimistic note, amid confidence that much of what had imperiled the Paralympics had been set aside, though hardly forgotten.
The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, said at a news conference Wednesday that he had seen “unprecedented teamwork” in the three weeks following his assertion that the Paralympics were in a precarious position unseen in their 56-year history.
“The feeling coming out of the village is that athletes are happy,” Craven said. “The thing to remember is athletes perform best when they are happy and I only saw happy athletes in the village, and that’s all right for me.”
Even as Brazil reeled from political turmoil and economic crisis, and as Rio itself sought to dispel fears that it was a dangerous host, the Summer Games that concluded here three weeks ago were largely considered a success. Photo
Dancers in the ceremony. Credit Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press
Now the Paralympics take the Rio stage, and they are likely to unspool in a fashion far different from what organizers originally envisioned. They were not worried years ago about diminished seating capacities at Paralympics sites or about having to limit transportation options. The financial troubles that emerged were not apparent back then.
Nor was the seemingly unthinkable notion that Russia’s 267 Paralympic athletes would be barred from competing because of links to state-sponsored doping.
And so these Paralympics, then, represent as much an exercise in flexibility and creativity as an opportunity to apply what was learned from the Summer Games.
“What you should take away from Rio de Janeiro in the Games is, Communicate, and communicate early,” Craven said, adding: “If there’s a problem, let us know about it. Don’t let us know about it six or seven weeks before the start of the Paralympic Games.” Photo
One of several extravagant performances at the Maracanã stadium Wednesday. Credit Sergio Moraes/Reuters
He was referring, in part, to the unpaid grants that jeopardized 10 undisclosed nations’ participation in the Paralympics. Those concerns were alleviated Wednesday, Craven said, when the remaining money was transferred.
With that matter settled, a procession of 159 nations, plus a team of two refugees, reveled in Wednesday’s spectacle, smiling and waving to a crowd that was missing the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, who was attending a funeral in Germany.
About 1.4 million tickets for the Paralympics have been sold since the Olympics ended on Aug. 21, said Craig Spence, the spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee. Organizers credited the surge to enthusiasm generated by the Olympics and to what they characterized as a late-buying market. Online crowdfunding efforts also bolstered sales.
Most of those tickets cost 30 reais — about $10 — or less. With Brazil still in an economic malaise, there are no cheap seats. But in the upper reaches of the Maracanã, and its lower sections, too, the party went on and on.
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