Records fall, attendance rises at Paralympics

RIO DE JANEIRO — The Paralympic Games are in the home stretch, having overcome budget problems to stage a highly successful competition that has seen higher-than-expected attendance and a slew of record-setting performances. The games needed a bailout from Brazil’s government of almost $80 million to make it to the starting line. Only 200,000 tickets had been sold a few weeks before the opening ceremony, but officials said demand picked up and they had sold nearly their goal of 2.4 million. That is partly a result of the price for many tickets, only 10 Brazilian reals ($3). Day seven saw another 54 gold medals celebrated and more records smashed, including Iranian powerlifter Siamand Rahman surpassing the 300kg mark for the first time in Paralympic history. Twenty-eight-year-old Siamand Rahman is the strongest Paralympian of all time. He lifted an astonishing 310kg in the men’s +107kg category to win gold and obliterate the world record. Rahman finished an unprecedented 75kg clear of his nearest rival, almost doubling his margin of victory from London 2012. Weighing 169kg, the reigning world champion broke the world record twice before his final lift of 310kg — the equivalent of a male Siberian tiger. While Nigeria hasn’t won Olympic gold since the turn of the millennium, its Paralympic powerlifters are in a class of their own. Josephine Orji today became the ninth Nigerian to win a medal in Rio, breaking the world record (154kg) in the women’s +86kg division. Seven of those nine have come under the bright lights of Riocentro Pavilion 2 where the powerlifting takes place, as Orji joins the likes of Paul Kehinde, Lucy Ejike and Bose Omolayo atop the podium. All of the above have not just won gold, but also broken world records in the ultimate test of strength. Roland Ezuruike, champion in the men’s -54kg competition, successfully lifted four times his own bodyweight — the equivalent of the average American male lifting 355kg. Nigeria currently sits in an unprecedented top 10 position in the medal table. The multi-talented Kadeena Cox won the T38 400m final to claim her third medal of Rio 2016. Cox, already with C4-5 time trial gold and T38 100m bronze to her name, pulled clear of Chinese rival Chen Junfei in the last 20m to smash the world record by a second and a half.