XYZ OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT ISSUE NO. 3 | 2016 www.paralympic.org RIO 2016’S LEGACY The People’s Games PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE THE PARALYMPIAN 03|2016 3 “The noise was incredible and the atmosphere like nothing I have ever experienced before at a Paralympics.” The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games surprised us all Another highlight for me was the appearances of and surpassed all expectations, despite the unique Ibrahim Al-Hussein and Sharad Nasajpour as part circumstances in which they were staged. of the fi rst Independent Paralympic Athletes team. Their performances delivered a message of hope Never before has a Paralympics been held in the and inclusion to the whole world. face of such economic and political turmoil, but the Games delivered against all odds. The Games were the most broadcast in history with over 154 countries showing the action, whilst more Paralympians are no strangers to overcoming than 1.5 billion people engaged in Rio 2016 via the challenges and I was overjoyed at how the Para- IPC’s online channels. lympic Movement came together to ensure the Games were a success. I am confi dent Rio 2016 will leave a lasting legacy for Latin America and March’s Youth Parapan To go from 200,000 ticket sales two weeks prior American Games at the Brazilian Paralympic to the Opening Ceremony to 2.15 million by the Committee’s Sao Paulo training centre is a fi ne time of the Closing was a huge achievement and example of that legacy in action. testament to the outstanding support of the Cariocas. Sadly Rio 2016 was not without tragedy; the pass- ing of Iranian cyclist Bahman Goldbarnezhad on The Rio 2016 Paralympics will be remembered as the penultimate day was a tremendous loss for the the People’s Games and the memory of the fi rst whole Paralympic Movement. Our thoughts remain Saturday, when more than 170,000 people fi lled with his family and friends and I encourage you all the Barra Olympic Park, will live long into the mem- to read the fi tting tribute to him in this magazine. ory. The noise was incredible and the atmosphere like nothing I have ever experienced before at a Finally, next year The Paralympian will have a new Paralympics. look and will be published twice a year. The one thing that did not surprise was the level I wish you all the best for 2017. of athletic performance; Rio 2016 was the best ever in this regard with athletes pushing their bod- ies to the absolute limits. A record 83 NPCs won a medal and one of the stand-out performances came from Iranian powerlifter Siamand Rahman. To lift 310kg – the equivalent of a large Siberian tiger – was one of the most remarkable perfor- Sir Philip Craven, MBE mances ever seen in sport. IPC President 4 THE PARALYMPIAN 03|2016 CONTENTS CONTENTS THE PARALYMPIAN 03|2016 5 6 5500 1144 06 PARALYMPIC NEWS 12 #ASKANATHLETE 13 DIGITAL BONUS The IPC extended its partnerships with The fi rst Independent Paralympic Athletes’ How did Rio 2016’s digital numbers compare Allianz, BP and Ottobock; Proud Para- Team took part at Rio 2016. Hear from to London 2012? The fi gures will amaze you. lympian education programme re-launched Ibrahim Al-Hussein and Sharad Nasajpour and other major headlines in the Paralympic about their experiences. 19 Movement. 14 RIO 2016’S LEGACY 19 RIO 2016 IN REVIEW 50 FUTURE GAMES Thanks to the Cariocas, Latin America’s fi rst A wrap-up of all 22 Paralympic sports, PyeongChang 2018 Test Events are set, while Paralympic Games had an atmosphere like including medals tables, personal athlete the Paralympic fl ag is touring Tokyo. no other and left a lasting impact on the re- accounts and stunning images. gion and global Movement. 52 UPCOMING EVENTS 54 ISSUE OF THE SEASON 56 FINAL WORD World Championships in snowboard, alpine Norwegian rower Birgit Skarstein and World In memory of Iranian cyclist Bahman skiing, Nordic skiing and wheelchair curling Taekwondo Federation’s Olof Hansson share Golbarnezhad. all carry PyeongChang 2018 qualifi cation their thoughts on what sports making their implications. Paralympic debuts should do to continue developing. THE PARALYMPIAN CONTACT IMAGES Editor Craig Spence International Paralympic Committee © Photo Credits: OIS (p. 1/4/5/10/11/12/17/18/19/20/21/24/25/26/27/30/31/32/33/34/ Assistant Editor Ros Dumlao Adenauerallee 212-214 D-53113 Bonn, Germany 35/36/37/38/39/42/43/44/45/49/54/58); Rio 2016 (p. 1/5/14/15/48/58); Contributor Hernan Goldzycher Getty Images (p. 6/12/17/18/20/21/22/23/25/26/28/29/32/33/34/35/36/ Tel. +49 228 2097-200 36/37/39/40/41/42/44/48/49/50/52/53); Cicero Rodriques (p. 5/38/51); Graphic Design designfee Bianca Werninghaus Fax +49 228 2097-209 Piotr Marek (p. 8); Wagner Meier (p. 8/16/37/56); Raphael Dias (p. 9); Art Editors Yosof Rohesh, Mariel Avalos, 123rf.com (p. 13/18); fl aticon (p.17); istockphoto.com (p. 17/54/55); [email protected] Dan Behr (p. 33); Igor Meijer/FISA (p. 35/55); Annika Zeyen www.paralympic.org Morten Olsen/NPC Denmark (p. 42); Yang Lei/Xinhua News (p. 45); Printing welzel + hardt GmbH Augusto Bizzi (p. 45/46/47); Richard Kalocsai (p. 42); NPC Italy (p. 52); PRINT The views expressed in The Paralympian are not necessarily those of the IPC. In case of republication of any part of The Paralympian, please Sao Paulo 2017 (p. 53); Hadi Hassanzada (p. 54); NPC Iran (p. 56) send a copy to the IPC. The publisher reserves the right to edit submitted articles. The International Paralympic Committee endeavours to All rights reserved be as current and accurate as possible with this publication, aiming to treat all readers with courtesy and respect. We cannot guarantee © 2016 International Paralympic Committee however, that the information contained in this publication is complete and accurate in all respects and readers are taken to understand ISSN 1609-1329 and agree to this disclaimer upon reading any part of The Paralympian. No infringements upon any law, including sport regulations, from people within the photographs and/or featured in the magazine’s content were known at the time of publication. Articles, pictures and other written or graphic devices published in The Paralympian may not be reproduced without the prior written permission of the International Paralympic Committee. 6 THE PARALYMPIAN 03|2016 PARALYMPIC NEWS PARALYMPIC NEWS THE PARALYMPIAN 03|2016 7 #ProudParalympians inspire at Rio 2016 + + NEWS IN-BRIEF + + The IPC aims to continue the great success POPE: Pope Francis highlighted the impor- of Proud Paralympian through the Agitos tance the Paralympic Movement has for social Foundation into the future. inclusion at October’s ‘Sport at the Service of Humanity’s First Global Confer- ence on Sport and Faith.’ The fi rst Proud Paralympian Forum will be held in June 2017. This The Pope said: “The aims to bring together ath- Paralympic Move- ment and other letes involved in Para sport sporting associa- administration from all over tions sustaining the world, giving them the those with dis- abilities, such Hundreds of athletes from around the world tools they need to take the as the Special got their fi rst experience of the newly re- values of Proud Para lympian Members of Olympics, have launched athlete education programme, back to their countries and the Italian team had a decisive role in helping Proud Paralympian, at Rio 2016. organisations. take a selfi e with Pope Francis the public recog- nise and admire A dedicated space in the Athletes’ Dining More chances for athletes to the extraordinary performances of Hall was visited every day by athletes eager get involved through the National athletes with diff erent to have some fun and fi nd out more about Paralympic Committees and Interna- abilities and capacities.” how they could be Proud Paralympians tional Federations will also be available, and themselves. They had the chance to play an entirely new set of learning materials will BADMINTON: The Badminton World Feder- ation (BWF) awarded Para Badminton World games, receive career advice, learn about be launched in 2017. Championships 2017 to Ulsan, South Korea, the Paralympic Movement, and most impor- to be held 21-26 November. A press conference was held in Rio de Janiero regarding the suspension of the RPC, with (from left) IPC Governing Board member Todd Nicholson, NPC Brazil President Andrew Parsons, IPC President Sir Philip and IPC Media and Communications Director Craig Spence addressing the media tantly, engage with and vote in the Athletes’ Athletes who registered to receive up- Council elections. dates from Proud Paralympian will be kept SHOOTING PARA SPORT: World Shooting Para Sport extended its partnership with “Tragically this situation informed of any exciting new developments SIUS, the world’s leading producer of US swimmer Illeana Rodriguez, alpine and news from the programme. electronic scoring systems, as the Offi cial Russian Paralympic Committee suspended is not about athletes skiers Piotr Marek of Poland and Arly Results and Target Systems Provider for the sport at regional, world and World Cup cheating the system, Velasquez of Mexico, Japanese Nordic Proud Paralympian can be followed events until 2024. On 7 August the IPC suspended from Russia’s ministry of sport Developed in consultation with but about a State-run skier Miki Matheson and her compatriot on social media: the Russian Paralympic Commit- between 2012 and 2015. WADA, the reinstatement crite- Eri Yamamoto were on hand to speak to CYCLING: Ireland’s Colin Lynch established @ProudPara tee (RPC) due to its inability to Evidence that 18 samples ria identify the core, high-level system that is cheating athletes as Proud Paralympians themselves.