Ipc Targets Record Rio Paralympics

07 Sep 2015 | tshego

Share on

With one year to go until the start of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has revealed it is expecting a record number of athletes to compete at the competition, with a series of firsts also set to take place at the event.

The Paralympic Games will run from 7th to 18th September in the Brazilian city next year and Sir Philip Craven (pictured), president of the IPC, has revealed confidence that the showpiece event will also attract more spectators and television viewers than ever before.

Marking a year to go on Monday, Craven said: “We are expecting a record 4,350 athletes from around 170 countries to compete in 22 sports at Rio 2016, with both canoe and triathlon making their Paralympic debuts.

“Our aim with next year’s Games is to build on the success of London 2012 and Sochi 2014, and so far the signs look extremely good. We have more broadcasters than ever before signed up to cover the Games, including a number of new territories, and we are fully confident we will break the four billion cumulative TV audience figure for the first time.

“Tickets for the Games will go on sale to coincide with the one year to go marker and our aspiration is to sell 3.3 million tickets, half a million more than London 2012. If we achieve this figure then we will be the world’s second biggest sporting event in terms of ticket sales behind the Olympics.”

The London 2012 Paralympic Games attracted 2.8 million spectators, with a cumulative audience of 3.8 billion watching on television in over 100 countries around the world.

Craven, who will be overseeing his eighth and final Paralympics in Rio as the IPC president, added: “The Paralympic Games have developed a strong reputation for being the world’s number one sporting event for driving social change and inclusion. At London 2012 especially, we saw how the performances of athletes led to seismic shifts in attitudes towards people with an impairment, whilst in Beijing in 2008 and Sochi last year, millions were spent on improving accessibility and creating barrier-free environments.

“I believe Rio 2016 will have a similar impact not just in Brazil but across the whole of South America. The Games will change how an entire continent views and thinks about disability whilst the event will act as a catalyst to improving accessibility.”