Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be the fifteenth summer games. They’re taking place from 7 - 18 September with an estimated 4500 athletes competing in 23 sports.
We’re based in Edinburgh, UK so we’ll be tuned in to Channel 4’s Paralympic coverage. Being four hours ahead of Rio we will be expecting some late nights as we watch the live action!
Highlights!
We are sad to say that that is the end of our highlight reel for this year's Paralympics! A very enjoyable experience in covering the games in Rio ends in our small blog of the fantastic closing ceremony which you can find here.
Day Eleven (18th September)
Cycling Road
David Weir unfortunately crashed out of his T54 marathon in a collision with another athlete to dash his medal hopes.
Wheelchair Rugby
Australia claimed the only Gold by 1 point against Team America on Sunday evening in the mixed-open event.
Day Ten (17th September)
Athletics
T44 100m final saw the Netherland’s Marlou Van Rhijn go from last place to 1st in a heart-stopping Gold win for the Dutch lady.
Football 5-a-side
Home favourites Brazil beat Iran 1-0 in a close match to win Gold on Saturday night. Argentina managed to claim the bronze after a penalty shoot-out with China.
Sailing
2 and 3-person keelboat events were won by Australia in the final standings while the 1-person Keelboat event was won by Damien Seguin of France.
Sitting Volleyball (Day 10 and 11)
Iran pipped Bosnia and Herzegovina by 2 points to win Gold in the Men’s event.
America won the Gold in the Woman’s event late on Saturday night by 3 points.
Swimming
China won Gold in the 4x 100m relay while Brazil won the bronze to ignite the home crowd celebrations
Bethany Firth won her 3rd Gold in the S14 200m. Her first two Golds were won in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle events.
Day Nine and Ten (16th and 17th September)
Athletics
Hull Blake won Great Britain’s 50th Gold in the T36 400m running event by over a second.
Kare Adenegan won her 2nd bronze medal to add to her 1 Silver in the 800m T34 event. This is her first-ever Paralympic games and she is only 15 years old!
Boccia
David Smith's brilliant display in the BC1 final earned him Gold in the individual mixed BC1 event. David, sporting colourful blue hair, beat Daniel Perez convincingly 5-0.
Football 7-a-side
Unlikely winners Ukraine took home the Gold in a 2-1 victory over Silver Medalists Iran. They were joined on the podium by Bronze Medal winners Brazil who won their 3rd placed final against the Netherlands 3-1.
Goalball
Lithuania captured Gold in the Men’s event on Friday. They surpassed America by 6 goals in the Golden match.
Turkey aimed high and won the Gold in the Woman’s Golden Match by beating China 4-1.
Wheelchair Basketball
Team USA won both Woman’s and Men’s Gold Matches on days 9 and 10. The Men's team were resounding winners against Spain in a 68-52 match. While the Woman's team managed to win 62-45 in a more closely contested game.
Equestrian
Lee Pearson continued his dominance by winning his 11th Paralympic Gold in the Grade 1B Freestyle.
Wheelchair Tennis
Final day of medals in this sport saw Gordon Reid pitted against compatriot and doubles partner Alfred Hewitt in the singles event. Reid eventually won Gold in a strong straight-sets performance.
Swimming
Daniel Dias brought the biggest cheer from the home crowd as he won his 7th Gold at Rio and 22nd medal overall in his Paralympic career.
Hannah Cockroft made it a hat-trick of medals with an emphatic win in the T34 800m
Day Eight (15 September 2016)
Athletics
More determined than ever, Liam Malone has swept up a Gold in the T44 400m event!
China stormed the stadium in the T35-38 4X100m relay where they went for Gold.
Dutch athlete Marlou van Rhijn put on an incredible performance in the T44 200m taking Gold.
Canoe Sprint
A proud achievement for GB’s Jeanette Chippington who has become the first Gold medallist in the KL1 200m kayak race.
Emma Wiggs thrilled spectators as she took Gold in the women’s KL2 kayak final.
In the KL3 canoe finals Anne Dickins came out on top with a Gold!
Ian Marsden won Bronze in the KL1 200m kayak final, as did Nick Beighton in the KL2 final.
Equestrian
British athletes are leading the way in equestrian events in Rio! Sophie Christiansen took Gold and Silver in the championship test grade 1a.
An emotional win for GB’s Natasha Baker who took Gold in the Individual Grade II dressage.
Swimming
In a rapid event, Charlotte Henshaw won Bronze in the women’s S6 100m breaststroke.
Wheelchair Tennis
Up against French opponents, GB’s Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett finish with Silver in the tennis final.
Day Seven (14 September 2016)
Athletics
It’s a new world record! GB’s Hannah Cockroft has taken her second Gold medal in the T34 400m with an incredible time of 58.78 seconds.
In the T38 400m final, another record was broken by the jubilant Kadeena Cox. The 25 year old from Leeds has become the first Briton to take Gold in two different sports since the 1984 Paralympics!
Cycling Road
GB Hand Cyclist Karen Drake was taken aback by her phenomenal win in the H1-3 time trial!
Another Gold went to Dame Sarah Storey after she won the C5 women’s time trial.
Italy’s Alex Zanardi won gold in the gripping H5 hand-cycling time trial!
Equestrian
GB got off to a winning start in the individual championship test events! It was Gold for Sophie Wells and Silver for Lee Pearson.
Powerlifting
Iran’s Siamand Rahman has broken a world record to take Gold in the 107+ KG category! He lifted 310kg to smash the record and earn his medal.
Swimming
It was anticipated that Britain’s Hannah Russel would take gold – but she also broke a world record with her time of 1 minute 6.06 seconds in the S12 backstroke final!
Jonathan Fox was beaten by his GB team-mate Michael Jones who made it to Gold in the men’s S7 400m freestyle.
Wheelchair Tennis
GB’s Gordon Reid has powered on through to the wheelchair tennis final! He defeated word number one Stephane Houdet from France.
Day Six (13 September 2016)
Equestrian
Norway’s Cathrin Ann Lubbe took Gold in the Individual Championship Test – Grade 3 Winners.
Archery
Iran took both Gold and Bronze in yesterday’s Men’s Individual Recurve event.
Athletics
Devendra of India made a huge record breaking throw of 63.97m in the Javelin event. This record had stood since Athens in 2004.
Powerlifting
Egypt managed to win Gold in two of yesterday’s Men and Women’s events. Men’s 88kg event was one by United Arab Emirate’s athlete Mohammed Khalaf.
Shooting
2nd last day of this sport saw China and Ukraine take home the Gold medals yesterday which keeps both nations at the top end of the medals table.
Swimming
This is as close you can get in the final of the S9 50m Freestyle as 7 athletes of 8 were neck and neck going into the finish. Britain’s Matthew Wylie (just) came out as the Gold medal winner in a very exciting final.
Stephanie Millward won her first ever Gold medal in the S8 100m Backstroke.
Table Tennis
Kelly Van Zon from Holland was triumphant as she passionately celebrated every point with a defiant cry and going all the way to win the Gold.
Wheelchair Fencing
First medal day in this sport saw China and Ukraine taking most of the Golds with China taking 3 and Ukraine claiming 2 top spots.
Wheelchair Tennis
It was the first medal in this sport and Australia found glorious Gold in the Quad Doubles. USA and Great Britain took 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Day Five (12 September 2016)
Medals galore for China, Great Britain and Ukraine over the weekend as they topped the medals tables going into Day 5. We have picked particular highlights of days 2,3 and 4 for you to keep up-to-date with all the medal winners, record breakers and funny moments!
As we cross into the latter half of the games the medals table looks interesting with China, Great Britain and Ukraine filling the 1,2 and 3 spots.
Swimming
Ellie Simmons won Gold and breaks the World Record in a time of 2:59.81 in the Women’s 200m individual Medley – SM6 Final.
Sasha Kindred claimed Gold and set a new World Record in 2:38.47 in the Men’s 200m individual medley – SM6 Final.
Suzi Rodgers broke the record in the time of 35.07 in the Women’s 50m Butterfly – S7 Final
5-a-side Football
A tough challenge on Britain’s Martin Hickman by Ireland’s goalkeeper Brian McGillivary sent the former crashing to the ground inside of the penalty box. Fortunately for McGillivary no foul was given.
Athletics
Kiwi Liam Malone was the fastest man yesterday to win the T44 200m in a personal best time of 21.06.
Boccia
Brazil, Slovakia and Thailand took the Golds for the 1st of 2 medal days in the mixed pair events.
Individual medal events will be taking place on day 9.
Archery
2nd day of medal events in the archery saw China and Great Britain battle it out for Gold and Silver medals in the mixed team compound event. Unfortunately for team GB, China came out on top with a score 151 to GB’s 143.
Shooting
China took home 3 Gold medals in the 5th day of medal events.
Table Tennis
7 Gold medals were won by the Team China in a mix of Woman and Men events.
Wheelchair fencing
1st day of 5 medal events saw Ukraine win both Men’s Individual Sabre events.
Day Four (11 September 2016)
Athletics
Joanne Butterfield smashed the World Record and claimed Gold for the club throw at 22.81 metres.
F40 Shot put Gold for Lauritta Onye and caps it off with a dance routine to the joy of her Nigerian compatriots.
5-a-side Football
WEI Jiansen scored a wonderful solo effort as he dribbles past several defenders and slots the ball home to put China in the lead against Mexico
Powerlifting
Yu Jiao Tan of China’s warm-up ‘battle cry’ routine soon paid off as she won a Gold medal and broke the World Record lift at 138.5kg.
Canoe Sprint
A pulsating performance by Rachel Morris led her to winning the Gold in the women’s AS single sculls final after being 2nd for most of the race.
Triathlon
Holland’s Jetze Plat and Geert Schipper led the way in the Men’s Triathlon by coming 1st and 2nd in the PT1 race.
Day Three (10 September 2016)
Athletics
The Malaysian Muhammad Zolkefli smashed the World Record with a 16.84m shot put 5th attempt.
Cycling track
Kadeena Cox breaks own World Record. She claimed her second medal and first Gold of the Paralympics.
Hannah Cockroft retains her title and Kare Adenegan makes it a Great Britain one-two in the women's T34 100m.
Jozef Metelka of Slovakia sparked the audience into life after he won his Gold and made a memorable celebratory dance to round it off.
7-a-side Football
Brazil showcased their superior skills by beating Ireland in a one-sided 7-1 victory.
Swimming
Hard fought win for Alice Tai of Team GB as there was a photo finish to claim the bronze medal in the S10 100m final.
Table Tennis
Rob Davies put in an exceptional performance to beat France’s Ducay in a clean sweep of 3 games to love.
Day Two (09 September 2016)
It was a Friday to remember for team GB as they won 15 medals in 6 sports. Jody Cundy banished the haunting experience of a false start in London 2012 by winning Gold and setting a new Paralympic record in his Track Cycling event. Sophie Thornhill and her pilot Helen Scott took the B1000m time trial by storm in the Track Cycling by winning the Gold. Jonathan Peacock sprinted his way to victory in the 100m to win Gold in a time of 10.01 seconds and Libby Clegg grabbed Gold in the T100m.
Elsewhere….
Powerlifting
Bronze for Zoe Newson in 45kg event and Ali Jawad gets silver in men’s 59kg
Swimming
15-year-old Ellie Robinson of Team GB takes home Gold in the S6 50m fly
Bronze for Lewis White of Team GB in the S9 400m freestyle
Shooting
3 Chinese athletes (Huan Xing, Dong and Yang Chao) took Gold in their respective events while Slovakia’s Veronika VadoVicova took Gold in 2 events.
Judo
A whole host of nations won Gold in each weight event with Uzbekistan coming 1st in 3 events.
Day One (08 September 2016)
The highly anticipated first day of the Paralympics was not to disappoint as we saw records broken and medals mostly won by China, Great Britain and Uzbekistan. Here are our top picks of highlights from the first day!
Team GB got off to a fantastic start at the Rio 2016 Paralympics with many Gold medals and World Records to take home. In the Cycling there were a collection of first place wins being made before lunch time:
- Megan Giglia (Team GB) cycling world record and gold medal in the c1-3 3000m individual pursuit.
- Sarah Storey (Team GB) won here 12th gold medal in Paralympic games. Making here the all-time most successful British woman Paralympian.
- Steve Bates and Adam Duggelby (Team GB) won gold in B4000m Individual Pursuit.
Swimming saw Team GB, Brazil and China having plenty of success on the first day:
- Oliver Hynd (Team GB) won Gold and set new world record in 400m freestyle S8.
- Bethany Firth (Team GB) won Gold and sets new world record in 100m backstroke S14.
- Daniel Dias (Team Brazil) won gold in S5 200m freestyle.
- Zheng Tao (Team China) won Gold in the Men’s 100m backstroke S6.
- Song Lingling (Team China) captured Gold in the S6 100m backstroke.
Elsewhere…
- China were also very successful in claiming medals in Shooting, Judo and Athletics.
- Uzbekistan sit at 3rd on the medals table by winning medals in the Swimming, Athletics, Judo and Cycling categories.
- Brazil had a storming start to their goalball games by winning both matches against the USA and Sweden.
Channel 4 - Day one Highlights
Euan’s Top Picks
First up was the Opening Ceremony. With a spectacular start to proceedings courtesy of Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham, the teams then entered the stadium with colour, dancing and lots & lots of fireworks! If you missed it, check out the Opening Ceremony highlights.
The swimming events are always exciting and with 177 events there’s a lot to get excited about! Swimming gets underway on Thursday 8th and there are around 15 medal events each day so plenty to watch.
Another favourite of mine has to be the Track and Field events - the running, jumping and throwing events always provide entertainment! There are an amazing 177 medals to be contested over 11 days of competitions so again always something to watch!
I’m also interested in seeing how the athletes in the new Paralympic sports get on. Canoeing is included as a Paralympic sport for the first time this year with the trials taking place on 14th and the medal events taking place on Thursday 15th. Also new for Rio 2016 is Triathlon and we’re looking forward to two days of action on the 10th and 11th.
Lastly - Wheelchair Rugby. I’m a keen rugby fan anyway so this sport would always be on my watchlist… But add in the fact that it is so fast & furious that it is nicknamed “Murderball” and you’ll know why my interest is piqued!
More links:
External links:
Guide to Paralympic sports (Channel 4)
Guide to Paralympic classification (BBC)
Paralympic Medal Table (The Guardian)
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