The ten best images from the Rio Paralympic Games
FROM a table tennis player with no arms to a cyclist missing half of his left leg, the 2016 Paralympic Games have provided some remarkable images.
A WEEK into the 2016 Paralympic Games, we take a look at the best images from Rio thus far.
TABLE TENNIS’ MOST INVENTIVE PLAYER
Egypt’s Ibrahim Hamadtou (pictured at the top of this page) lost both his arms in a train accident as a 10-year-old. Thirty-three years later he made his debut at the Paralympics in table tennis, using his mouth to hold the paddle and his right foot to toss the ball up for his serve.
Hamadtou lost both his group matches in Rio but still has the team event to go and is loving every minute at the Games.
“Not all defeats are defeats. Sometimes you lose but you actually win because you have added to your experience, you have added to your knowledge. Today I added to my knowledge,” Hamadtou said after his first match.
“My dream has come true of playing in the Paralympic Games.
“I want to tell everybody that nothing is impossible, and everybody should work hard for what you love and what you think is good for yourself.”
RIO’S TALLEST ATHLETE
Morteza Mehrzad (244 cm). the Tallest athlete in world shines in #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/XcJ3hYNXI6
— Alireza Ashraf (@AlirezaAshraf1) September 10, 2016
At 2.46 metres tall, Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is taller than anybody who has ever played in the NBA. Mehrzadselakjani is reportedly the tallest man in Iran and he plays sitting volleyball.
The Iranians are currently top of the table in pool B with a game to go, having defeated both China and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
THE 52-YEAR-OLD CYCLING VETERAN
Spain’s Juan Jose Mendez Fernandez lost most of his left arm and half his left leg in a motorcycle crash. He is now 52 year’s old, competing in his fourth Paralympic Games, having debuted in Athens in 2004.
UNDERWATER WITH MARTINEZ
Born without both legs and a left hand, Mexico’s Gustavo Sanchez Martinez won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze in the pools at the London 2012 Paralympic Games as an 18-year-old.
He’s yet to medal in Rio but still has four events to go. In the above picture he is competing in the 100m freestyle S4 heats. He finished sixth in the final.
XU FALLS SHORT
Make no mistake, Qing Xu is a swimming legend. Having lost most of both arms in a car accident when he was six, Xu began swimming as a seven-year-old and has dominated the pools ever since. The Chinese star won four gold medals at the London 2012 Games and three at Beijing, where he also won bronze.
So far in Rio he has won the S6 50 metre freestyle, the S6 50m butterfly and the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay, setting world records in the second two. Xu came fourth in the SM6 200m medley and is pictured above resting poolside after the race. He can still leave the Games on a high, with one event to go – the S6 100m freestyle.
ONYE’S JUBILATION
Nigeria’s Lauritta Onye took out the women’s shot put F40 final, breaking the world record along the way with an 8.40m throw. She celebrated with a series of impressive flips and by twerking. She’s doing neither in the image above, with raw jubilation getting the better of her.
BEFORE THE PLUNGE WITH GARCIA-TOLSON
USA star Rudy Garcia-Tolson failed to make the final of the men’s 100m butterfly S8 but is well placed in the 200m individual medley SM7 having qualified second-fastest for the final.
Garcia-Tolson is competing in his fourth Paralympic Games, having debuted in 2004 in Athens and has won two gold medals, a bronze and a silver since.
POLAND’S HIGH JUMPING CONTORTIONIST
It takes more than explosive power to make it as a high jumper, with Poland’s Lukasz Mamczarz showing the value of flexibility in the image above.
Mamczarz finished just off the podium in the high jump T42, coming fourth. India’s Thangavelu Mariyappan came first with a leap of 1.89m.
NATIONAL PRIDE
Rwanda’s women’s sitting volleyball team are fourth in pool B, having lost games against China and Iran. In the picture above, three players stand side-by-side for the national anthem.
RIO’S FASTEST 1500M RUNNERS
On its own, this image of T13 1500m medallists Tamiru Demisse, Abdellatif Baka and Henry Kirwa is not remarkable. Add the times for the three runners and fourth-placed Fouad Baka from Algeria and it starts to get a little more impressive:
Gold - Abdellatif Baka, Algeria, 3:48.29
Silver - Tamiru Demisse, Ethiopia, 3:48.59
Bronze - Henry Kirwa, Kenya, 3:49.59
4th place - Fouad Baka, Algeria, 3:49.84
It’s only when you throw in the time of Olympic gold medallist Matthew Centrowitz (3:50.00) that you realise how special a podium photo this is.
Originally published as The ten best images from the Rio Paralympic Games
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