Rio Paralympic Games 2016: Wheelchair stunt highlights opening ceremony as the Games begin

A WHEELCHAIR athlete races down a steep ramp before somersaulting through the air lit by fireworks over Rio’s Maracana Stadium: let the Paralympic Games begin ...

Fireworks around the roof of the Maracana Stadium light up the Rio night sky.

A MAN in a wheelchair raced down a steep ramp at high speed at the same time fireworks hit the sky over Rio’s Maracana Stadium.

And just like that, the 2016 Paralympics opening ceremony got off to an extravagant start.

Extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron `Wheelz’ Fotheringham flew down the six-storey high ramp and somersaulted through the air in an effort to break preconceived ideas around disability, as the Games also aim to do.

Aaron Wheelz rides off a ramp at the beginning of his incredible stunt.

The world’s best para-athletes took centre stage in the Brazilian city as they marched in the opening ceremony for the first Paralympics on South American soil.

But first the crowd of nearly 50,000 fans were treated to three hours of music and dancing to celebrate the joy and diversity of Brazil.

Wheelz, an extreme wheelchair athlete, opened the ceremony with a bang.

The extravaganza heralds the start of the 11-day event which will see more than 4,000 athletes from 161 countries compete for 528 gold medals over 23 sports.

No surprise, crowd blows the roof off Maracana Stadium as Brazil rounds out the athletes march #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/D85hJt7LFP

— Scott Walsh (@scottwalshMail) September 7, 2016

Early competition ruled half of Australia’s team out from appearing at the ceremony, including co-captains Daniela Di Toro and Kurt Fearnley.

Flag bearer Bradley Ness leads the Australia team out in to the stadium.

Wheelchair basketball veteran Brad Ness had the honour of carrying the flag for Australia.

Fears over funding threatened the organisation of the Games but a late surge in ticket sales to 1.6 million suggests Brazilians are now getting behind the event which is much smaller in scale than the recently completed Olympic Games.

Originally published as Rio Paralympic Games 2016: Wheelchair stunt highlights opening ceremony as the Games begin