The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power (e.g. paraplegia and quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome, spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g. amputation or dysmelia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games:
When is it?
The Paralympic opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday 7 September.
What time will it start?
The ceremony will kick off at 21:30pm BST (17:30pm local time in Brazil) live from Rio’s Maracana Stadium.
Where can I watch it?
The ceremony will be broadcast live on Channel 4, BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra.
Which GB athletes will feature in the opening ceremony?
Richard Whitehead and Hannah Cockroft have been named as Team GB’s athletics captains for the Games.