Paralympians all set for the Olympics afterparty

The afterparty has begun. The XV Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro opened with a feat to defy expectations in a carnival atmosphere at the Maracana Stadium.

International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven journeyed from the Paralympic movement’s birthplace of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire in an introductory video.

And there was an audible gasp in the 78,000-seat stadium as someone in a wheelchair propelled themselves down a six-storey high ramp and through a hoop.