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https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/medal-count

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THIS one was for Bob and Moira.

"Later on tonight when all the excitement dies down, I will just sit by myself and take some time," long-jump gold medallist Brayden Davidson said.

"I will just look up and have a think; 'Nanna, Granddad, I did it'."

Davidson secured Australia's first athletics gold medal of these 2016 Rio Paralympic Games with a record-busting leap of 5.62m at the Olympic Stadium.

The 18-year-old from Adelaide's south dedicated the win, in his maiden Games appearance, to his late grandparents who were central to his pursuit of para-sport.

Sadly, despite their inspiration, neither would see their grandson achieve his life's dream of competing at the Paralympics.

Davidson's grandfather, Bob, died two years ago, and the family then lost grandmother Moira early last year.

Just before the last of Davidson's six jumps, he looked skyward, paying tribute to the pair.

"They were massive supporters of me," said Davidson, competing in the T36 class, through cerebral palsy.

"My nanna was the one that gave me the dream of even going to the Paralympics. She told me as a six-year-old.

"There was an article in the paper about (swimmer) Matt Cowdrey, (athlete) Katrina Webb. She just said 'maybe one day if you keep on going that can be you out there competing for Australia at the Paralympics'."

Davidson's 5.62m jump was a full 11cm longer than his previous personal best, and ignited a nail-biting final in which just 1cm separated the medal winners.

Davidson finished tied with Brazilian jumper Rodrigo Parreira da Silva after the pair each registered their best effort with their opening jumps.

The gold medal was split by a countback, decided by Davidson's second-best jump measuring 2cm longer than his rival.

"A bit overwhelmed," Davidson said.

"So exciting. To be out there is realising a dream for me.

"That was an incredible comp all the way, back and forth, back and forth, me and Rodrigo just pushing each other to the absolute limit.

Davidson already held the career honour of being the first T36 athlete to break the 5.5m long jump barrier, and now has a gold medal to add to the list of achievements.

"Coming out here today and seeing the crowd, I was jumping after the Brazilian, hearing the roar every time he jumped. Even though it was for him you could use that energy a bit," he said.

"That first jump, I absolutely jumped out of my skin. I have never jumped anywhere near that before (5.62m)."

Ukraine's Roman Pavlyk scored bronze with a personal-best 5.61m, a full 25cm past the fourth-placed competitor.

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THIS one was for Bob and Moira. "Later on tonight when all the excitement dies down, I will just sit by myself and take some time," long-jump gold medallist Brayden Davidson said. "I will just look up and have a think; 'Nanna, Granddad, I did it'."

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Updated September 19, 2016 10:15:56

Kurt Fearnley just missed out on a fairytale finish at the Rio Paralympics, while Australia won gold in the men's rugby.

Fearnley, a five-time Australian Paralympian, missed out on gold in his final Games wheelchair marathon by a single second, finishing with the silver behind Marcel Hug.

Meanwhile, Australia won the gold in the rugby after defeating United States 59-58 in overtime in a thrilling final.

The triumph left Australia with 22 gold from its Rio campaign, with 30 silver and 29 bronze medals also part of the overall tally. Australia finished fifth on the medal count.

A five-metre gap separated Fearnley and a fourth career Paralympics gold in the men's T54 class at Copacabana beach on Monday (AEST).

The veteran Fearnley was neck and neck with Hug until the final 20 metres when the Swiss broke the Australian to storm home.

"With 200m to go everything I had kind of stopped," Fearnley said.

It was the 35-year-old's fourth straight medal at a Paralympic marathon, which he chalks up to hard work and his quirky pre-competition routine.

"That's worked with me, with the lucky jocks for 16 years. Hopefully I'll be racing for another 60," he said.

"I'll race marathons for as long as my body can."

Fearnley says he will contest the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and aims to extend his reign on the major international marathon circuit.

Six athletes did not finish the gruelling 42.6km course in Rio's sizzling conditions, including six-time Paralympics champion David Weir of Great Britain, who dropped out early after a clash of chairs.

Fearnley, who has crawled the 96km Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and sailed in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, agreed it was a brutal race, but says that is where he thrives.

"One of my biggest strengths is that I deal with discomfort better than most," he said.

Having his family cheer him on helped, with Fearnley's wife Sheridan bringing their two-year-old son Harry to watch for the first time.

"It's a day that he may never remember but it's a day I won't forget," he said.

It was not the way he wanted to bow out of the Paralympics, but the Novocastrian was content with how far he has come and how the movement's progressed.

"I think I ran about 32nd in my (first) Paralympic marathon back in Sydney. And I'm grateful for that start," he said.

"That start is the thing that has given me the next 16 years to build on. I'm as proud of that day as I'm today."

Steelers take gold in overtime thriller

Australian Ryley Batt said winning back-to-back Paralympics titles in men's wheelchair rugby tops anything he has ever experienced - including his wedding day.

"I don't think I've ever been happier in my life," he said.

"I really shouldn't say that, because I'm married, and the wedding day is meant to be the best day of your life. But I think the missus would agree."

Batt helped the Steelers extend their golden reign in Rio, beating the US by a single point in a nail-biting double overtime thriller on Monday.

It was the first time the reigning Paralympics and world champions had defeated their US rivals in a major competition.

They also became the first team in history to win consecutive Paralympics and world championship titles in a four-year period.

Batt scored a stunning 27 goals but says he could not hear the crowd roaring for him.

"You get in the zone, it's just white-line fever, you don't hear anything, it's just a noise in the background," he said.

"But, I need some food, I need a beer, I need a glass of water."

With Australia holding a two-goal lead deep into the fourth quarter, the Steelers made a couple of costly errors, which the Americans pounced on, forcing the decider into overtime.

It was goal for goal in overtime and with 1.4 seconds to go the Steelers drew level to force a second overtime.

A huge defensive effort from the Steelers with 15 seconds to go in the second overtime ensured the US were not able to equalise and the Australians grabbed the gold.
AAP
First posted September 19, 2016 05:57:33

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Fearnley misses final Paralympics gold, Aussies win rugby

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Updated September 19, 2016 10:15:56 Kurt Fearnley just missed out on a fairytale finish at the Rio Paralympics, while Australia won gold in the men's rugby. Fearnley, a five-time Australian Paralympian, missed out on gold in his final Games wheelchair marathon by a single second, finishing with the silver behind Marcel Hug.

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Posted September 18, 2016 13:03:45

Tasmanian para-sailor Matt Bugg is celebrating after a comeback at the Rio Paralympics saw him claim a silver medal.

The 35-year-old was first over the line in the final but finished second, based on points, to France's Damien Seguin in the 2.4 metre single keel boat event.

Yachting Tasmania's Greg Rowlings said Bugg placed first during four events in the lead-up to the final, but a 14th place cost him points.

"He had a breakage and he had a 17th [placing], so he's probably the most consistent sailor at the whole regatta," he said.

"I think he had four first placings over the course of the regatta and he won the last race.

"I think that 14th cost him the gold, but silver is a fantastic achievement for the amount of years Matt's put into this program.

Rowlings described Bugg as the "in-form sailor of 2016", and said he had come a long way since a seventh place finish at London 2012.

"Whilst he will be a little bit disappointed in those two races, I think going forward he is going to take a lot out of that experience," he said.

"[He had] a lot of courage to come back and win that last race and get silver, so a fantastic achievement for Matt."

Rowlings said it had been a long road to Rio and the local sailing community was celebrating.

"He's a homegrown athlete. Matt is a born and bred Tasmanian and we are so proud of his achievement."

Bugg is due back in Tasmania at the end of the week.

"There will be quite a party in Hobart Town this weekend for sure," Rowlings said.

Bugg said last year he believed he had improved in every area after the London Games.

His coach Richard Scarr was hopeful that the similar conditions between Hobart's Derwent River and Rio's Guanabara Bay would provide an advantage.

Bugg has represented Australia at various international competitions since 2010.

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Tasmanian para-sailor Matt Bugg claims silver in Rio

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Posted September 18, 2016 13:03:45 Tasmanian para-sailor Matt Bugg is celebrating after a comeback at the Rio Paralympics saw him claim a silver medal. The 35-year-old was first over the line in the final but finished second, based on points, to France's Damien Seguin in the 2.4 metre single keel boat event.

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Paralympic Games on the BBC

Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4

Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

Every Paralympian has a story of how they battled the odds to compete in the sport they love, but few have a tale as remarkable as Australian swimmer Ahmed Kelly.

Kelly, 24, is from a family of amazing resilience.

His adoptive mother is a world-renowned humanitarian, his brother - who was born with similar, severe limb deficiencies - is musically gifted and appeared on the Australian version of the X-Factor, while his adoptive sisters, Trishna and Krishna, were born as conjoined twins and separated through surgery in 2009.

Ahmed and Emmanuel, who sang John Lennon's Imagine on the Australian talent show in 2011, were both born in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

Unable to care for the children, their parents left them at an orphanage where Ahmed spent the majority of his first seven years.

That was until his future adoptive mother, Moira Kelly, took the brothers to Australia in 1998.

"What my mom does is quite extraordinary, bringing kids from all over the world that need life-saving operations," said Kelly. "She has done an awesome job. She brought me and my brother over for our own surgery and I pretty much haven't looked back since."

Once in Australia, Kelly had surgery to remove the deformed sections of his lower legs and learned to walk, and then run, using prosthetic legs, before he started to play Australian rules football.

He switched to swimming and has now competed at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Kelly, who failed to win any medals in Brazil, was cheered on by his mother and brother, who both made the long trip from Australia to Rio.

Speaking about his brothers and sisters, Kelly added: "They are remarkable siblings.

"They themselves had to conquer their own challenges and I'm very proud of all three of them.

"My mom has always had values of treating each other with respect and trying to be as fair as possible. They are great values and that's something I really worked hard to live by as well."

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Rio 2016: Ahmed Kelly's remarkable journey to the Paralympics

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Paralympic Games on the BBC Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4 Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

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http://www.paralympic.org.au/

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I am watching the wheelchair basketball Australia lead by one with 45 seconds to go in the first half

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Updated September 16, 2016 13:52:00

Lego has honoured Singapore Paralympians Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh with two look-alike minifigurines - complete with matching swimmers and medals - to celebrate their achievements in Rio.

Pin Xiu took home Singapore's first medal in Rio winning the 100m S2 backstroke event.

The 24-year-old, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, broke the world record with a time of 2:07.09.

Teammate Goh won bronze in the 100m backstroke SB4, her first win from four Paralympic Games since making her debut in Athens in 2004.

The toy manufacturer posted a photo of the immortalised athletes on their Facebook page, receiving more than 4,000 reactions.

In a comment to Lego's post, Goh replied: "Hahahah oh man this is great! Thank you!!"

Lego has launched a five piece Paralympics set to "celebrate sporting achievement and overcome adversity".

Those sentiments were expressed in a personal Instagram post from Pin Xiu.

"Nobody knows our journey like us," he said.

The athlete was recently reclassified as an S2 swimmer as her condition worsens and progressively weakens her bones.

Pin Xiu is hoping to take home a second gold, if she wins the 50m backstroke, which will make her the first Singaporean to win multiple gold medals at the same Games.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated the swimmer on Facebook.

"Pin Xiu, you have made Singapore very proud today," he said.

The toy brickmaker's range of collectible figurines, which range from Superheroes to Star Wars characters are extremely popular with fans.

First posted September 15, 2016 13:37:40

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Paralympians become mini Lego toy figurines

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Updated September 16, 2016 13:52:00 Lego has honoured Singapore Paralympians Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh with two look-alike minifigurines - complete with matching swimmers and medals - to celebrate their achievements in Rio. Pin Xiu took home Singapore's first medal in Rio winning the 100m S2 backstroke event.

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Athletics | Men's 1500m - T54 Final | Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

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Athletics | Men's 1500m - T54 Final | Rio 2016 Paralympic Games | Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Results: GOLD 2236 Thailand | WAHORAM Prawat 3:00.62 (1500) T54 SILVER 2179 Switzerland | HUG Marcel 3:00.65 (1500) T54 BRONZE 2229 Thailand | KONJEN Saichon 3:00.86 (1500) T54 4 1523 GBR | WEIR

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Did you know that there is 23 sports in the Paralympics 

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Did you know that there is 23 sports in the Paralympics 

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Sebie

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_sports

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In the men's triathlon it is the first time in olympic history that someone has won two back to back golds Alister Brownlee won in London an rio what a winner.

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Paralympic Games on the BBC

Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4

Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

Dame Sarah Storey and Hannah Cockroft both won their second golds of the Rio Paralympics, as GB surpassed their London 2012 total on day seven.

ParalympicsGB's nine golds on Wednesday took their tally to 43, improving on their 34 four years ago.

In a prolific evening session, they won 10 medals in the space of an hour in swimming and athletics.

Cockroft won the T34 400m in a world-record time while Storey was victorious earlier in the C5 cycling time trial.

She was one of three time-trial gold medallists for Britain, along with Karen Darke and Steve Bate.

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Kadeena Cox set a world record of one minute 0.71 seconds to win the T38 400m in athletics, and Sophie Wells was victorious in the Grade IV dressage individual championship.
Listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary as Cox wins 400m gold

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Britain had an excellent night in the pool with Aaron Moores pipping team-mate Scott Quin to gold for a one-two in the men's SB14 100m breaststroke and Michael Jones and Jonathan Fox taking first and second respectively in the men's S7 400m freestyle final.

Hannah Russell added to the haul with gold and knocked nine tenths of a second off her own world record in the women's S12 100m backstroke.

"I've been training for four hard years and I wanted to execute the perfect race, so to do it here is fantastic," said Russell, who also won a silver and two bronzes at London 2012.

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Cockroft triumphed in the T34 400m on the track in a world record of 58.78secs, while her 15-year-old team-mate Kare Adenegan finished third for her second medal of the Paralympics.

The 24-year-old from Halifax won Saturday's 100m final and can make it three with victory in Friday's 800m final.
Cockroft on 5 live: 'I don't want a 15-year-old to beat me'
GB's 60-minute medal blitz:

21:42 - Claire Cashmore wins silver in the women's SB8 100m breaststroke final

21:42 - Hannah Cockroft takes T34 400m gold, with Adenegan third

21:52 - Michael Jones and Jonathan Fox seal a GB one-two in the S7 400m

22:03 - Susannah Rodgers wins bronze in the women's S7 400m freestyle

22:11 - Aaron Moores and Scott Quin make it another one-two in the pool in the SB14 100m

22:18 - Bethany Firth wins silver in the women's SB14 100m breaststroke

22:45 - Hannah Russell takes gold in the women's S12 100m backstroke

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A golden Storey

Storey, 38, now has 13 career Paralympic gold medals and has won two events at these Games, with her triumph in the 3km pursuit on the track last week having already made her Britain's most successful female Paralympian.

"I wasn't 100% sure I had won [Wednesday's time trial]," she told Channel 4. "Your time checks are brilliant but until the announcer says it you're not sure."

Barcelona 1992 - 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley

Atlanta 1996 - 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley

Beijing 2008 - road time trial, track individual pursuit

London 2012 - road time trial, road race, track individual pursuit, track time trial

Rio 2016 - road time trial, track 3km pursuit

The golden flat-mates

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Darke, 45, went one better than her silver medal at London 2012 to win the hand-cycling H1-3 time trial, despite having to put her chain back on part way through the 20km course.

Her gold medal came minutes after her Paralympic Village flat-mate Cox had secured her third medal of the Games with her record-breaking T38 400m on the athletics track.
Cox on 5 live: 'It doesn't even feel real'
Inspired to try athletics?

Find out how to get into athletics with our inclusive guide.

Cox, 25, has now claimed gold medals and world records in two sports in Rio, having won the track cycling C4-5 time trial in a best-ever time as well, while she also won T38 100m bronze.

She is the first British Paralympian to win two golds in two different sports at the same Games since 1984, when Peter Haslam topped the podium in both shooting and snooker.

Bate and his pilot Adam Duggleby won Britain's third cycling gold of the day with victory in the men's B tandem time-trial.

It was the pair's second gold of the Games after their tandem pursuit win.

The medals kept coming

Andy Lapthorne - who took doubles bronze with Jamie Burdekin on Tuesday - added to GB's tally with silver in the men's wheelchair tennis quad singles, losing 6-3 6-4 to Australian world number one Dylan Alcott.

ParalympicsGB flag-bearer Lee Pearson also took silver in the Grade Ib dressage individual championship on his horse Zion to take his Paralympic Games medal tally to 13.

Lora Turnham and her pilot Corrine Hall finished third in the women's B tandem time trial and there was also a bronze medal for 16-year-old Maria Lyle in the T35 100m final, whose class-mates watched from their school hall in the UK.

David Stone, who won gold at London 2012, took bronze in the men's tricycle T1-2 time trial.

F1's Zanardi wins 15 years after crash

Elsewhere, Italian former Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi continued his dominance of Paralympic hand-cycling by adding the H5 road time trial title to his two gold medals from London 2012 on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the crash in which he lost both legs.

He goes for gold again on Thursday in the road race (13:30 BST).

And Iran's Siamand Rahman set three new world records in 30 minutes in the men's +107kg powerflifting, winning gold with a lift of 310kg, or 75kg more than his nearest rival, or, according to Paralympics officials "the weight of a Siberian tiger".

GB still in medal hunt

In their quarter-final match, the GB men's wheelchair basketball team delivered one of their greatest ever performances at a Paralympics to beat world champions Australia 74-51.

Paralympic debutant Phil Pratt impressed again with 20 points, while team-mate Ian Sagar was the top scorer on 26.

They face Spain in the semi-finals on Thursday evening - just a few hours after the GB women bid for a place in their final by taking on the USA.

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Back on the athletics track, David Weir cruised into the final of the men's T54 800m, winning his heat in a time of 1:37.30.

And Ukraine now await the GB men's 6-8 table tennis team after Will Bayley beat Spain's Jordi Morales to secure a place in the semi-finals.
BBC Sport's Elizabeth Hudson in Rio

Analysis

Andy Lapthorne lost out to Australia's Dylan Alcott in the quad singles gold medal match but with three GB wheelchair tennis medals already secured and another three guaranteed, it has been a successful few days in Rio.

Wins for Gordon Reid and teenager Alfie Hewett set up an all-British clash for Friday's men's singles final and guaranteed GB gold and silver, but first the duo will line up together in Thursday's doubles final to face France.

Reid, the Wimbledon champion, beat world number one Stephane Houdet of France but rising star Hewett, the world number 12, has exceeded all expectations in his first Paralympics, defeating the world number two Joachim Gerard of Belgium.

A Para-canoe debut

There was a clean sweep of British success in Para-canoeing's debut at the Paralympics, as Jeanette Chippington (KL1), Ian Marsden (KL1), Emma Wiggs (KL2) and Anne Dickins (KL3) all won their heats to go into Thursday's finals.

Nick Beighton (KL2) also progressed by coming second in his heat, while Rob Oliver (KL3) won his semi-final to progress.

Five-time world champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell sit second overall in the SKUD18 two-person keelboat sailing.

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Defeat for wheelchair fencers and wheelchair rugby

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Wheelchair fencer Dimitri Coutya, 18, exited the men's individual foil category B competition at the quarter-final stage, losing 15-12 to China's Hu Daoliang.

Piers Gilliver, who won silver in the individual epee category A on Tuesday, failed to progress from the foil preliminary pool stages.

Meanwhile ParalympicsGB suffered a narrow defeat by Australia in their opening game in the wheelchair rugby.

Debutant Jim Roberts scored 27 points but they went down 53-51 to the reigning world and Paralympic champions.

Britain's world record holder Matt Skelhon, who scored a Paralympics record of 622.5 in qualifying, came seventh in the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone final.

ParalympicsGB's men's football 7-a-side team finished their campaign with a dominant 2-0 victory over Argentina to secure fifth place in what was their last Games appearance after the event was dropped from the Tokyo 2020 schedule.

Day eight - key timings (GB unless otherwise stated)

13:00 - Defending Paralympic champion Natasha Baker in equestrian's dressage Grade II individual championship test final

13:00 - Jeanette Chippington in Para-canoeing women's KL1 final

13:08 - Ian Marsden in Para-canoeing men's KL1 final

13:16 - Four-time world champion Emma Wiggs in Para-canoeing women's KL2 final

13:34 - Nick Beighton in Para-canoeing men's KL2 final

13:30 - Ex-Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi of Italy goes for his second Rio gold in the H5 hand-cycling road race on the anniversary of the 2001 crash in which he lost both legs.

15:45 - GB v USA in women's wheelchair basketball semi-final

13:52 - Anne Dickens in Para-canoeing women's KL3 final

13:55 - Ellie Simmonds and Charlotte Henshaw in women's SB6 100m breaststroke heats (final 21:50)

14:10 - Rob Oliver in Para-canoeing men's KL3 final

16:02 - David Weir v Switzerland's Marcel Hug in men's T54 800m final

16:20 - Karen Darke goes for a second gold in the women's H1-4 hand-cycling road race

16:45 - Defending Paralympic champion Sophie Christiansen in equestrian's dressage Grade Ia individual championship test final

16:45 - GB v Canada in wheelchair rugby pool game

18:00 - GB's team of Will Bayley, Aaron McKibbin & Ross Wilson face Ukraine in men's team class 6-8 semi-final

Not before 19:00 - Gordon Reid & Alfie Hewett v Stephane Houdet & Nicolas Peifer (Fra) - in wheelchair tennis men's doubles gold medal match

21:30 - GB v Spain in men's wheelchair basketball semi-final

21:40 - Holly Neill in women's F41 Discus final

21:45 - Laura Sugar faces Paralympic star Marlou van Rhijn of the Netherlands in the women's T44 200m final

22:17 - Richard Whitehead going for T42 sprint-double in the men's T42 100m final

23:31 - Kadeena Cox and Georgina Hermitage go for a third gold each, joined by Sophie Hahn and Olivia Breen in women's T35-38 4x100m relay final

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Rio 2016 Paralympics: Dame Sarah Storey and Hannah Cockroft win gold

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Paralympic Games on the BBC Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4 Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

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Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; Afrikaans: [pisˈtɔrjus]; born 22 November 1986) is a South African former professional sprinter and convicted murderer.[9] Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old due to a congenital defect; he was born missing the outside of both feet and both fibulae. Pistorius ran in both non-disabled sprint events and in sprint events for below-knee amputees. He was the tenth athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games.

After becoming a Paralympic champion, Pistorius attempted to enter non-disabled international competitions, over persistent objections by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and arguments that his artificial limbs gave an unfair advantage. Pistorius prevailed in this legal dispute. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Pistorius was the first amputee to win a non-disabled world track medal. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pistorius was the first double-leg amputee participant.

On 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, paralegal and model Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home. He claimed he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the bathroom. He was arrested and charged with murder. At his trial the following year, Pistorius was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of culpable homicide.[10][11][12] He received a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended sentence for a separate reckless endangerment conviction.[13][14]

Pistorius was temporarily released on house arrest in 2015 while the case was presented on appeal to a panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, which overturned the culpable homicide verdict and convicted him of murder.[15][16] In July 2015, Judge Thokozile Masipa extended Pistorius's sentence to six years.[17] On appeal by the state for a longer prison sentence, the Supreme Court of Appeal increased the prison term to a total of 15 years.[18] Pistorius will be eligible for parole in 2023.

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born to Henke and Sheila Pistorius on 22 November 1986 in Sandton, Johannesburg, in what was then Transvaal Province (now Gauteng Province) of South Africa.[1] He grew up in a Christian home[19] and has an elder brother, Carl, and a younger sister, Aimée.[20][21] Pistorius credits his mother, who died at the age of 43 when Pistorius was 15 years old, as a major influence in his life.[22][23] Pistorius is from an Afrikaner family with partial Italian ancestry from his maternal great-grandfather, who was an Italian emigrant to Kenya.[24] Afrikaans is his mother tongue and he is also fluent in English.[25][26][27]

Pistorius was born with fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula) in both legs. When he was eleven months old, both of his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles.[2] He attended Constantia Kloof Primary School[28] and Pretoria Boys High School,[1][29] where he played rugby union in the school's third XV team.[30] He played water polo and tennis at provincial level between the ages of 11 and 13.[30] In addition, Pistorius took part in club Olympic wrestling,[30][31][32] and trained at Jannie Brooks's garage gym in Pretoria. Brooks remarked that it took six months before he noticed that Pistorius "had no legs" but nonetheless was able to do many exercises including "boxing, skipping and doing press-ups".[33]

After a serious rugby knee injury in June 2003, he was introduced to running in January 2004 while undergoing rehabilitation at the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre[34] with coach Ampie Louw, and "never looked back".[30] His first racing blades were fitted by South African prosthetist Francois van der Watt. Because he was unable to find suitable running blades in Pretoria, Van der Watt ordered the pair to be made by a local engineer. However, as these quickly broke, Van der Watt referred Pistorius to American prosthetist and Paralympic sprinter Brian Frasure to be fitted for blades by Icelandic company Össur.[35][36]

Pistorius began studying for a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.)[20] in business management with sports science at the University of Pretoria in 2006.[30][31][37] In a June 2008 interview for his University's website, he joked: "I won't graduate soon. With all the training I have had to cut down on my subjects. Hopefully I'll finish by the time I'm 30!"[20] Asked by a journalist for his "sporting motto", he said: "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have."[30]

Pistorius competed in T44 (single below-knee amputees) events though he is classified in T43 (double below-knee amputee).[38] Sometimes referred to as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs",[32][39][40] Pistorius took part in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and came third overall in the T44[32] 100-metre event.[41] Despite falling in the preliminary round for the 200 metres, he qualified for the final.[42] He went on to win the final in a world record time of 21.97 seconds, beating a pair of American runners, Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure, both with single amputations.[41]

In 2005, Pistorius finished sixth in the non-disabled South African Championships over 400 metres with a world-record time of 47.34 seconds,[32] and at the Paralympic World Cup in the same year, he won gold in the 100 metres and 200 metres, beating his previous 200-metre world record.[43][44] At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, Pistorius won gold in the 100-, 200- and 400-metre events, breaking the world record over 200 metres.[45] On 17 March 2007, he set a disability sports world record for the 400 metres (46.56 seconds) at the South African Senior Athletics Championships in Durban;[46] and at the Nedbank Championships for the Physically Disabled held in Johannesburg in April 2007. He became the world record holder of the 100- and 200-metre events with times of 10.91 and 21.58 seconds, respectively.[6][47]

Pistorius was invited by the IAAF to take part in what would have been his first international non-disabled event, the 400-metre race at the IAAF Grand Prix in Helsinki, Finland, in July 2005. He was unable to attend, however, because of school commitments.[48] On 13 July 2007, Pistorius ran in the 400-metre race at Rome's Golden Gala and finished second in run B with a time of 46.90 seconds, behind Stefano Braciola who ran 46.72 seconds.[49] This was a warm-up for his appearance at the 400 metres at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield on 15 July 2007.[50] As American Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner stumbled at the start of the race and stopped running, Pistorius took seventh place in a field of eight in wet conditions with a time of 47.65 seconds. However, he was later disqualified for running outside his lane. The race was won by American Angelo Taylor with a time of 45.25 seconds.[51][52] Pistorius had ambitions of competing in other non-disabled events. In particular, he had set his sights on competing at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China,[53] but was not selected by the South African Olympic Committee.

Pistorius has been the subject of criticism because of claims that his artificial limbs give him an advantage over runners with natural ankles and feet. He runs with J-shaped carbon-fibre prostheses called the " Flex-Foot Cheetah" developed by biomedical engineer Van Phillips and manufactured by Össur.[32]

On 26 March 2007, the IAAF amended its competition rules to include a ban on the use of "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device".[54] The IAAF stated that the amendment was not specifically aimed at Pistorius. To decide whether he was running with an unfair advantage, the IAAF monitored his track performances using high-definition cameras to film his race against Italian club runners in Rome on 13 July, and his 400 metres in Sheffield on 15 July 2007,[39][55] at which he placed last.[52]

In November 2007, Pistorius was invited to take part in a series of scientific tests at the German Sports University Cologne under the guidance of Professor of Biomechanics Dr Peter Brüggemann in conjunction with Elio Locatelli, who was responsible for all technical issues in the IAAF. After two days of tests, Brüggemann reported on his findings on behalf of the IAAF. The report claimed that Pistorius's limbs used 25% less energy than runners with complete natural legs running at the same speed, and that they led to less vertical motion combined with 30% less mechanical work for lifting the body.[56] In December, Brüggemann told Die Welt newspaper that Pistorius "has considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs who were tested by us. It was more than just a few percentage points. I did not expect it to be so clear."[57] Based on these findings, on 14 January 2008, the IAAF ruled Pistorius's prostheses ineligible for use in competitions conducted under the IAAF rules, including the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.[58] Pistorius called the decision "premature and highly subjective" and pledged to continue fighting for his dream. His manager, Peet van Zylm said his appeal would be based on advice from experts in the United States who had said that the report "did not take enough variables into consideration".[59]

Pistorius subsequently appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and appeared before the tribunal at the end of April 2008.[60] After a two-day hearing, on 16 May 2008, CAS upheld Pistorius's appeal and the IAAF council decision was revoked with immediate effect. The CAS panel unanimously determined that Brüggemann tested Pistorius's biomechanics only at full-speed when he was running in a straight line (unlike a real 400-metre race); that the report did not consider the disadvantages that Pistorius suffers at the start and acceleration phases of the race; and that overall there was no evidence that he had any net advantage over non-disabled athletes.[61] In response to the announcement, Pistorius said: "My focus throughout this appeal has been to ensure that disabled athletes be given the chance to compete and compete fairly with non-disabled athletes. I look forward to continuing my quest to qualify for the Olympics."[62]

To have a chance of representing South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in the individual 400-metre race, Pistorius had to attain the Olympic "A" standard time of 45.55 seconds; the "B" qualifying time of 45.95 seconds, which applies if no other athlete from his country achieved the faster time, did not apply. Each national athletics federation is permitted to enter three athletes in an event if the "A" standard is met, and only one athlete if the "B" standard is met.[63] However, he was eligible for selection as a member of the relay squad without qualifying.[64] His best chance was to try for a time of close to 46 seconds to make the 4 × 400-metre relay team. However, he said: "If I make the team I don't want to be the reserve for the relay, I want to be in the top four. I want to bring something to the race and make the relay stronger." To give him a chance of making the South African Olympic team, selectors delayed naming the team until 17 July.[65]

On 2 July 2008, Pistorius competed in the 400 metres in the B race of the Notturna International in Milan but was "disappointed"[65][66] when at 47.78 seconds his fourth place finish was over the minimum Olympic qualifying time.[65][67] His performance on 11 July 2008 at the Rome Golden Gala was an improvement of more than a second, though his sixth-place time of 46.62 seconds in the B race was still over the Olympic qualification time. Nonetheless, he was pleased with his performance, commenting that he felt he could improve on it.[68]

On 15 July 2008, IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss commented that the world athletics body preferred that the South African Olympic Committee not select Pistorius for its 4 × 400 metres relay team "for reasons of safety", saying that Pistorius could cause "serious damage" and risk the physical safety of himself and other athletes if he ran in the main pack of the relay.[69] Pistorius branded this as the IAAF's "last desperate attempt" to get him not to qualify,[70] and threatened legal action if the IAAF did not confirm that it had no objections to his participation in the relay.[71] The IAAF responded by issuing a statement saying that Pistorius was welcome to seek qualification for the Olympics and future competitions under IAAF rules: "The IAAF fully respects the recent CAS decision regarding the eligibility of Oscar Pistorius to compete in IAAF competitions, and certainly has no wish to influence the South African Olympic Committee, who has full authority to select a men's 4 × 400m relay team for the Beijing Olympics."[72][73]

Coming third, with a personal best time of 46.25 seconds, at the Spitzen Leichtathletik meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 16 July 2008, Pistorius failed to qualify for the 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games by 0.70 seconds. Athletics South Africa later announced that he would also not be selected for the 4 × 400 metres relay team as four other runners had better times.[72][74] Pistorius would not have been the debut leg amputee to participate in the Olympic Games as George Eyser had competed earlier. Pistorius's compatriot Natalie du Toit, a swimmer whose left leg was amputated above the knee after a traffic accident, was the debut amputee Olympian, at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.[75] Asked about the possibility of the IAAF offering him a wild card to take part in the Olympics, Pistorius responded: "I do not believe that I would accept. If I have to take part in the Beijing Games I should do it because I qualified." He expressed a preference for focusing on qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London,[66] stating that it was a more realistic target as "sprinters usually reach their peak between 26 and 29. I will be 25 in London and I'll also have two, three years' preparation."[67]

Pistorius participated in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing in the 100, 200 and 400 metres (T44). On 9 September, in the heats of the 100 metres, he set a Paralympic record with his time of 11.16 seconds.[76] Later, following a slow start, he rallied to snatch gold from the United States' Jerome Singleton in the 100 metres in a time of 11.17 seconds, 0.03 seconds ahead of the silver medallist.[77] Four days later, on 13 September, the defending Paralympic champion in the 200-metre sprint[78] won his second gold in the event in a time of 21.67 seconds,[79] setting another Paralympic record.[76] He completed a hat-trick by winning gold in the 400 metres in a world-record time of 47.49 seconds on 16 September,[80] calling it "a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life".[81]

In January 2011, a slimmer, trimmer Pistorius won three IPC Athletics World titles in New Zealand but was beaten for the first time in seven years in the 100 metres by Jerome Singleton.[82] He subsequently won the T44 400 metres in 47.28 seconds and the 100 metres in 11.04 seconds at the BT Paralympic World Cup in May to reassert himself as the world's leading Paralympic sprinter.[83]

Pistorius competed across a number of non-disabled races in the summer of 2011 and posted three times under 46 seconds, but it was at the 19th Internazionale di Atletica Sports Solidarity Meeting in Lignano, Italy, on 19 July, that he set a personal best of 45.07 seconds in the 400 metres, attaining the World Championships and Olympic Games "A" standard qualification mark.[8][84][85]

Pistorius won the 400-metres event with a posted time that ranked him as 15th fastest in the world.[86]

On 8 August 2011, it was announced that he had been included in the South African team for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and had been selected for the 400-metre and the 4 × 400 metre relay squad. In the heats of the 400 metres, Pistorius ran in 45.39 seconds and qualified for the semi-final. However, in the semi-final, he ran 46.19 seconds and was eliminated.[87]

In the heats of the 4 × 400 metres relay, Pistorius ran the opening leg as South Africa advanced to the finals with a national record time of 2 minutes 59.21 seconds. However, he was not selected to run in the finals since he had the slowest split time of 46.20 seconds. This caused a controversy, as the first leg is normally Pistorius's slowest since it requires a start from blocks, and he was restricted to the first leg by Athletics South Africa "on safety grounds". He initially tweeted: "Haven't been included in final. Pretty gutted.", but later added: "Well done to the SA 4×400m team. Was really hard watching, knowing I deserved to be part of it [sic]."[88] Pistorius still won the silver medal because he ran in the heats, becoming the first amputee to win a non-disabled world track medal.[89][90] Reflecting on his World Championship debut, Pistorius said: "I really enjoyed the whole experience. I ran my second fastest time ever in the heats and was really pleased to have reached the semi-finals. In the relay, I was unbelievably chuffed to have broken the South African record, and hopefully my name will stay on that for a long time to come."[91]

On 4 July 2012, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) announced that Pistorius had been included in the Olympic team[92] for the 400-metre and the 4 × 400 metres relay races.[93][94]

At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games on 4 August 2012, Pistorius became the debut amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Games.[95] In the 400-metre race, he took second place in the first heat of five runners, finishing with a time of 45.44 seconds (his best time that season) to advance to the semi-finals on 5 August.[96] He ran in the second semi-final, where he finished eighth and last with a time of 46.54 seconds.[97][98]

In the first semi-final of the 4 × 400 metres relay race on 9 August, the second leg runner of the South African team, Ofentse Mogawane, fell and was injured before reaching the third leg runner, Pistorius. South Africa was passed into the final on appeal to the IAAF, due to interference by Vincent Kiilu, the Kenyan athlete who downed Mogawane.[99][100] The South African relay team eventually finished eighth out of the field of nine in the final on 10 August. However, it established a season's best time for the team of 3 minutes 3.46 seconds,[101] with Pistorius running the final leg in 45.9 seconds.[102] Pistorius was chosen to carry the South African flag for the closing ceremony.[103]

Pistorius also carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics on 29 August.[104] He entered the T44 classification men's 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres races, and the T42-T46 4 × 100 metres relay.[105]

In the 200-metre competition, Pistorius established a new T43 world record of 21.30 seconds in his heat on 1 September,[7] but he was defeated in the final the next day by Alan Oliveira of Brazil. Pistorius took silver, and subsequently complained about the length of Oliveira's blades. He later apologised for the timing of his remarks, but not the content of his complaint.[106] The IPC confirmed the length of Oliveira's blades were proportional to his body, with all the finalists measured before the race. The IPC also confirmed that Pistorius had raised the issue of blade length with it six weeks prior to the race. SASCOC issued a statement welcoming Pistorius's apology for his outburst, declared their full support for him and promised to assist him in discussions with the IPC about the issue of lengthened prostheses after the conclusion of the Games. The IPC expressed willingness to engage with Pistorius about the issue.[107] Australian runner Jack Swift[108] and American runner Jerome Singleton[109] also expressed support for Pistorius's position.

Pistorius won a team gold medal on 5 September, running the anchor leg as part of the South African 4 × 100 metres relay team setting a team world record time of 41.78 seconds.[110] His Beijing Olympics 100-metre title was defended with a season's best time of 11.17 seconds but was succeeded by Great Britain's Jonnie Peacock.[111] On 8 September, the last full day of competition, Pistorius won gold in the T44 400 metres with a time of 46.68 seconds, breaking the Paralympic record.[112]

Time (seconds)

Result

Date

Event

100 m (class T44)

Gold

4 April 2007

Nedbank Championships for the Physically Disabled
Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa

11.62[114]

Gold

2004

United States

200 m (class T44)

21.52[117]
(21.30 in semi-final - T43 world record)[7]

Silver

2 September 2012

2012 Summer Paralympics
London, England, United Kingdom

Gold

5 April 2007

Nedbank Championships for the Physically Disabled
Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa

21.67[79]
(Paralympic record)[76]

Gold

13 September 2008

2008 Summer Paralympics
Beijing, People's Republic of China

21.80
(21.66 in semi-final - world record)[114]

Gold

8 September 2006

2006 IPC Athletics World Championships
Assen, Netherlands

Gold

15 May 2005

2005 Visa Paralympic World Cup
Manchester, England, United Kingdom

22.04[118]

Gold

31 May 2008

Dutch Open National Championships
Emmeloord, Netherlands

22.71[114]

Gold

2004

USA Endeavor Games

USA

400 m (class T44)

Gold

8 September 2012

2012 Summer Paralympics
London, England, United Kingdom

Gold

16 September 2008

2008 Summer Paralympics
Beijing, People's Republic of China

47.92[116]

Gold

1 June 2008

Dutch Open National Championships
Emmeloord, Netherlands

4 × 100 m relay (classes T42-T46)

Gold

5 September 2012

2012 Summer Paralympics
London, England, United Kingdom

Time (seconds)

Result

Date

Event

400 m

First place

19 July 2011

Meeting Internazionale di Atletica Sports Solidarity
Lignano, Italy

16th in Round 1
(out of 51 athletes)

4 August 2012

2012 Summer Olympics
London, United Kingdom

4 × 400 m relay

In 2006, Pistorius was conferred the Order of Ikhamanga in Bronze (OIB) by then President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, for outstanding achievement in sports.[1][37] On 9 December 2007, Pistorius was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award, which is conferred for outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity.[122] This was later revoked following his conviction for murder.

In May 2008, Pistorius made the " Time 100" - Time magazine's annual list of the world's most influential people - appearing third in the "Heroes & Pioneers" section. Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mount Everest, wrote in an essay that Pistorius was "on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which disability becomes ability, disadvantage becomes advantage. Yet we mustn't lose sight of what makes an athlete great. It's too easy to credit Pistorius's success to technology. Through birth or circumstance, some are given certain gifts, but it's what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion."[123] In 2012, he made the list again.[124]

In February 2012, Pistorius was awarded the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for 2012.[125] On 22 August 2012, he was honoured with the unveiling of a large mural depicting his achievements in the town of Gemona, Italy.[126]

On 9 September 2012, Pistorius was shortlisted by the IPC for the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award as a competitor "who is fair, honest and is uncompromising in his or her values and prioritises the promotion of the Paralympic Movement above personal recognition". According to director Craig Spence, he was nominated by an unnamed external organisation from South Korea.[127] The award went to two other athletes.[128]

After the 2012 Summer Paralympics, the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow announced they would confer on Pistorius, among others, an honorary doctorate.[129] In February 2015, following his conviction for culpable homicide, the University revoked the honorary degree.[130][131]

In 2012 Pistorius had sponsorship deals worth US$2 million a year with Össur,[132] BT, Nike, Oakley and Thierry Mugler.[133] He also participated as a model in advertising campaigns.[134][135]

Following the murder charge, sponsors were initially hesitant to abandon him, but after a week sponsors began to withdraw their support.[134][136]

In 2008, Pistorius collaborated in the release of a music CD called Olympic Dream. Produced in Italy, it consists of disco remixes of music pieces that Pistorius finds inspirational, and two tracks written for him, "Olympic Dream" and "Run Boy Run", for which he provided voiceovers. Part of the CD's proceeds of sale went to charity.[137] Pistorius also actively supports the Mineseeker Foundation, a charity that works to raise awareness for landmine victims and has a support programme to provide prostheses for victims.[138]

Pistorius has two visible tattoos: the dates of his mother's birth and death ("LVIII V VIII - II III VI" - 8 May 1958 - 6 March 2002) are tattooed on the inside of his right arm;[22] the other tattoo, which is on his back, is the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 which begins, "I do not run like a man running aimlessly."[139] He lived in Silverwoods Country Estate, Pretoria.[140] The house was sold in June 2014.[141] Aside from running, his interests include architecture,[142] motorbiking, playing the electric guitar and breeding race horses.[143]

Pistorius's autobiography, Dream Runner, was published in Italian in 2007 with Gianni Merlo, a journalist with La Gazzetta dello Sport.[144] An English version titled Blade Runner was released in 2008.[145] In 2010, Pistorius appeared on L'isola dei famosi, an Italian version of Celebrity Survivor.[146] On 7 January 2012, he appeared as a special guest on the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars called Ballando con le Stelle at Auditorium Rai in Rome, where he danced a tango with Annalisa Longo to ABBA's " The Winner Takes It All".[147] On 9 October 2012, Pistorius appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[148] He was also scheduled to appear on Piers Morgan Tonight and the Larry King Now show at later dates.[149]

In February 2009, Pistorius was seriously injured when he was thrown from a boat in an accident on the Vaal River near Johannesburg. He was airlifted to Milpark Hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair broken facial bones, including his nose and jaw.[150] There were initial concerns about his fitness, but he recovered fully. However, the accident affected his training and running schedule for that year.[151]

Pistorius was scheduled as an amateur golfer in the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship held at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in Scotland. Pistorius has a 21 handicap in South Africa, but played off an 18 handicap for the Championship.[152] In 2010, he played in the Laureus World Sports Awards Golf Challenge at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates[153] and the Help-net Fund Celebrity Charity Golf Day.[154]

Pistorius is related to the South African psychological profiler, Micki Pistorius, who is his aunt.[155]

In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria.[157][158][159] Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp four times, causing her death, but claimed that he mistook her for a possible intruder.[160]

Pistorius's trial for murder began on 3 March 2014, in the Pretoria High Court.[161][162] On 20 May 2014, the trial proceedings were adjourned until 30 June to enable Pistorius to undergo psychiatric evaluation to establish whether he could be held criminally responsible for shooting Steenkamp. Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed to a request for the evaluation by prosecutor Gerrie Nel after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster testified for the defence that she had diagnosed Pistorius with generalised anxiety disorder.[163] On 30 June 2014, the trial resumed after the evaluation reports said Pistorius could be held criminally responsible. The state prosecutor was quoted as saying, "Mr. Pistorius did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him not criminally responsible for the offence charged".[164] The defense closed its case on 8 July and closing arguments were heard on 7 and 8 August.[165][166]

On 12 September, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide and one firearm-related charge of reckless endangerment related to discharging a firearm in a restaurant. He was found not guilty of two other firearm-related charges relating to possession of illegal ammunition and firing a firearm through the sunroof of a car.[10][11][12] On 21 October 2014, he received a prison sentence of a maximum of five years for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for the separate reckless endangerment conviction.[13][14]

In June 2015, Pistorius was recommended for early release, as early as August. South African Commissioner of Correctional Services Zach Modise told the BBC of the decision by the case management committee at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, where Pistorius was being held: "Under South African law he is eligible for release under 'correctional supervision' having served a sixth of his sentence."[167]

After Pistorius served approximately one-sixth of his prison term, his release date to house arrest was announced for 21 August 2015. This release was based on good behaviour and the fact that he was not considered a danger to the community. Pistorius was expected to remain under house arrest and correctional supervision, and was expected to perform community service as part of his continuing sentence. Regardless of his release from prison, Pistorius could not return to official athletic competition until the whole five years of his sentence was complete.[168] On 19 August 2015, his release was unexpectedly blocked by South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha. According to Masutha, the parole board's decision for early release was "premature." Legal experts noted that the move could have been due to political pressure and had implications for other cases of pending early release.[169] He was released from prison on 19 October 2015.[170]

On 4 November 2014, prosecutors applied to the sentencing judge for permission to appeal the culpable homicide verdict, stating that the five-year prison term was "shockingly light, inappropriate and would not have been imposed by any reasonable court".[171] Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled on 10 December 2014 that the prosecution could challenge her ruling of acquitting Pistorius of premeditated murder and convicting him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide; however she ruled that the state could not appeal the length of the sentence. The case was then set for appeal in front of a five-person panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal.[172]

The date for prosecutors to submit court papers outlining their arguments was set for 17 August 2015, and the date for the defence team's response was set for 17 September 2015. The date for the appeal hearing was set for November 2015.[173] The prosecutors' argument rested on Judge Masipa's application of the legal principle of dolus eventualis (whether an accused did actually foresee the outcome of his actions, rather than whether he or she should have), and that the judge made an error in concluding Pistorius had not foreseen that by firing four shots through the closed door of the toilet cubicle, he would kill or injure whoever was behind the door.[174]

The appeal was heard on 3 November 2015, in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Bloemfontein. The matter was heard before five Supreme Court judges. By a unanimous decision,[175] the court overturned Pistorius's culpable homicide conviction and found him guilty of murder in the death of Reeva Steenkamp. Judge Eric Leach read the summary of judgment. The panel of five judges found for the prosecutor's argument that Pistorius must have known that someone would die if he fired through the closed door into a small toilet cubicle. In the words of Judge Leach, "Although he may have been anxious, it is inconceivable that a rational person could have believed he was entitled to fire at this person with a heavy-calibre firearm, without taking even that most elementary precaution of firing a warning shot, which the accused said he elected not to fire as he thought the ricochet might harm him."[176]

According to the judgment, the person who Pistorius thought was in the cubicle had nothing to do with the results of his actions.[15][177][178] The culpable homicide verdict was replaced with a murder conviction, and the case was referred back to the trial court for a sentencing hearing when it reconvened on 18 April 2016.[15][179]

On 8 December 2015, it was announced Pistorius would continue to remain free on bail but under house arrest[180] pending his appeal to the Constitutional Court. On 3 March 2016, it was announced Pistorius had been denied his right to appeal, and would next be due in court on 13 June 2016 to begin a five-day sentencing hearing for the murder conviction, concluding on 17 June 2016.[181][182]

On 15 June 2016, the sentencing was adjourned by Judge Thokozile Masipa until 6 July 2016.[183]

On 6 July 2016, Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years' imprisonment for murder, rather than his original sentencing of five years imprisonment for culpable homicide; once again he was incarcerated in the hospital wing at the Kgosi Mampuru II jail. It was anticipated that Pistorius would be eligible for release on parole, after serving three years of his sentence, in 2019.[184][185]

On 7 August 2016, Pistorius was treated at Kalafong Hospital, in Pretoria, after sustaining minor injuries to his wrists after slipping in his cell. Media reports of Pistorius injuring himself intentionally were said to be "completely untrue" by his brother Carl who said he was "doing well given the circumstances".[186]

On 21 July 2016, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that they would appeal against Judge Thokozile Masipa's "shockingly lenient" 6-year jail sentence.[187] The appeal hearing took place on 26 August 2016 and the bid to appeal the sentence was rejected by Masipa who said that the NPA had "no reasonable prospect of success" of securing a longer prison sentence for Pistorius.[188] The NPA were then given 21 days to take their appeal bid to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). On 15 September 2016 it was confirmed that the NPA would make a fresh bid to extend Pistorius's jail sentence and would file papers to the SCA on 16 September.[189] After this announcement, sources associated with Pistorius's family and the defence team accused Gerrie Nel and the NPA of pursuing a "personal vendetta" against Pistorius.[190]

Pistorius was briefly released from prison for four hours on 14 October 2016 through a compassionate leave license to attend the funeral service of his grandmother, who died on 8 October 2016.[191]

In November 2016, Pistorius was transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru jail to Atteridgeville Correctional Centre which is smaller and better adapted for disabled prisoners, as it has better facilities for inmates including bath tubs in cells. It also holds prisoners who are serving six-year sentences or less.[192]

On 19 September 2017, it was confirmed that the SCA would hear the state's arguments appealing to extend Pistorius's sentence on 3 November 2017,[193] with their final ruling being confirmed on 24 November 2017.

On 24 November 2017, the SCA increased Pistorius's jail sentence to 13 years and five months. Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term was too short. The SCA ruled his sentence be increased to 15 years, less time already served.[194]

On 19 December 2017, it was confirmed that Pistorius had filed papers with the Constitutional Court to appeal the newly increased sentence and have his previous six-year sentence reinstated.[195] On 9 April 2018, it was confirmed that on 28 March 2018 the appeal was dismissed by the courts;[196] Pistorius will not be eligible for parole until at least 2023.[197]

Reeva Steenkamp's mother forgave Pistorius during his trial. She founded the Reeva Steenkamp Foundation to help prevent similar cases in the future.[198][199]

An unofficial biopic based on public records titled Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer, was aired on 18 November 2017 on South African TV.[200] The movie was made without the consent of either the Pistorius or Steenkamp families.[200] The Pistorius family threatened legal action against Lifetime Movies, the American television network that produced the movie.[201]

On 1 August 2018, Amazon Prime released a four-part documentary series on its video service titled Pistorius; the episodes are titled "The Dream", "Valentine's Day", "A Good Day to Tell You That I Love You" and "The Man Who Wasn't There".[202]

1. ^

2. ^

3. ^ Nico Bougas (9 June 2012), Enabled not disabled: Oscar Pistorius: 'The fastest thing on no legs', Assistnews.net, archived from the original on 17 August 2012

4. ^ Bozza, Gennaro (11 July 2007). "Pistorius bionico? "No, solo un uomo"" [Pistorius bionic? 'No, just a man']. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Archived from the original on 13 July 2007.

5. ^ "Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial Day 1 Part 1 Oscar pleads not guilty". YouTube. Masipa: "The accused is English-speaking?", Nel: "Indeed, My Lady".[dead YouTube link ]

6. ^ Oscar Pistorius; Rebecca Servadio-Kenan, transl. (2009), Blade Runner, London: Virgin Books, p. 33, ISBN 978-0-7535-1939-4

7. ^ Gareth A. Davies (6 October 2004), "Olympics within amputee's reach", The Daily Telegraph, London, archived from the original on 11 January 2022

8. ^ Gareth A. Davies [interviewer] (23 May 2007), "My sport: Oscar Pistorius", The Daily Telegraph, London

9. ^

10. ^

11. ^

12. ^ Mike Burnett (5 May 2005), Olympic dreams of a blade runner, BBC Sport;

13. ^ ;

14. An article dated 11 July 2007 in the ^ Daily Telegraph claimed that Pistorius's participation in the British Grand Prix was the first time that an athlete with a disability had competed against the world's best runners in a top international meeting: see Tom Knight (11 July 2007), "Pistorius is no novelty sprinter", The Daily Telegraph, London, p. S12. However, this does not seem to be correct - for instance, American runner Marla Runyan, who is legally blind, won the 1,500-metre race at the Pan American Games in 1999. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, she was the debut athlete who is legally blind to compete in the Olympics when she placed eighth in the 1,500 metres.

15. ; ^ Taylor profits from Wariner slip, BBC Sport, 15 July 2007

16. ; ^ Competition Rules 2008 (PDF), Monaco: IAAF, 2008, p. rule 144.2(e), archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2009. See ;

17. ^ 'Blade Runner' handed Olympic ban, BBC Sport, 14 January 2008

18. ^ ; ; ;

19. ^ 'Blade Runner' fights Olympic ban, CNN, 14 February 2008, archived from the original on 8 December 2008; ; Pistorius waits on Olympic news, BBC Sport, 30 April 2008

20. ^ Arbitral award delivered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ... in the arbitration between Mr. Oscar Pistorius ... v/ International Association of Athletics Federations (CAS 2008/A/1480 Pistorius v/ IAAF) (PDF), Court of Arbitration for Sport, 16 May 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2008; . See also

21. ^ "Pistorius primed for Beijing after overturning ban: 'I look forward to continuing my quest to qualify'", The Guardian, London, 16 May 2008; ; ; Nico Hines (16 May 2008), "Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing", The Times, London

22. ^ See also ; ;

23. ; ^ Matthew Pryor (5 May 2008), "Oscar Pistorius left in the shade after Natalie Du Toit claims Olympic first", The Times, London

24. ; ; ; Matthew Pryor (10 September 2008), "Oscar Pistorius wins Paralympic 100 metres title", The Times, London

25. ^ ;

26. . See also ^ Weir storms to second Games gold, BBC Sport, 17 September 2008

27. ^ [dead YouTube link ]

28. ^ Announcer: Tom Hammond (10 August 2012). "Track and Field, Diving, Cycling". XXX Summer Olympics. 186 minutes in. NBC.

29. ^

30. ^ ; Pistorius sprints to new record, BBC Sport, 7 April 2007

31. ^

32. ^ ;

33. ; ^ Competition Schedule as of 27/06/2012 (PDF), Confederation of African Athletics, 1 July 2012, archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2012

34. ^ ;

35. ^ ; see also

36. ^ ;

37. ^ ;

38. ^ ;

39. ^ Oscar Pistorius (2009), Blade Runner, London: Virgin Books, ISBN 978-0-7535-1939-4

40. ^ Wiener, Mandy; Bateman, Barry (2014). Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story. London: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1447262596.

41. ^ ""Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend". Reuters. London. 14 February 2013.

42. ^ "In the Final Roll in the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria) this 3rd day of March 2014" (PDF). SAFLII. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2014.

43. ^ Laing, Aislinn (13 August 2015), Oscar Pistorius to be released from prison next week, The Telegraph, archived from the original on 11 January 2022

44. ^ "Oscar Pistorius Faces Sentencing In June".

45. ^ Aislinn Laing (6 July 2016). "Oscar Pistorius will serve half his six-year prison sentence for murdering Reeva Steenkamp before applying for parole". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.

46. ^ World (17 September 2016). "Oscar Pistorius: Prosecutors accused of having 'personal vendetta'". Smh.com.au.

47. ^

48. ^ Reeva Steenkamp's Mother Reveals She Has Forgiven Oscar Pistorious for Her Murder | This Morning, BBC This Morning, 2020-10-30.

49. ^ [1]

Davies, Gareth A. [interviewer] (23 May 2007), "My sport: Oscar Pistorius", The Daily Telegraph, London

Knight, Tom (11 July 2007), "Pistorius is no novelty sprinter", The Daily Telegraph, London, p. S12

"Mr. Oscar "Oz" Pistorius", Who's Who of Southern Africa, 24.com, archived from the original on 27 April 2009

Oscar Pistorius, Össur

Oscar Pistorius competitive highlights, Össur

Wild, Sarah J. (2010), "On Equal Footing: Does Accommodating Athletes with Disabilities Destroy the Competitive Playing Field or Level It?", Pepperdine Law Review, 4: 1347-1391, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2013

Van Hilvoorde, Ivo; Landeweerd, Laurens (2008), "Disability or Extraordinary Talent - Francesco Lentini (Three Legs) versus Oscar Pistorius (No Legs)", Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 2 (2): 97-111, doi:10.1080/17511320802221778

Curran, Sarah A.; Hirons, Richard (September 2012), "Preparing our Paralympians: Research and Development at Össur, UK", Prosthetics and Orthotics International, 36 (3): 366-369, doi:10.1177/0309364612453256, PMID 22918916, S2CID 206517185

Mitten, Matthew J. (2011), "A Review of Post-PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin Legal Developments Regarding the Participation Rights of Disabled Athletes", Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 4: 101-106, doi:10.1123/jis.4.1.101, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2012

Callaway, Ewen (9 August 2012), "Technology: Beyond the Body", Nature, 488 (7410): 154-155, Bibcode:2012Natur.488..154C, doi:10.1038/488154a

Sandberg, Anders (11 August 2012), "The New Blade Runner", New Scientist, 215 (2877): 26-27, Bibcode:2012NewSc.215R..26S, doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(12)62066-1

Pistorius, Oscar; Servadio-Kenan, Rebecca, transl. (2009), Blade Runner, London: Virgin Books, ISBN 978-0-7535-1939-4

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Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; Afrikaans: [pisˈtɔrjus]; born 22 November 1986) is a South African former professional sprinter and convicted murderer.[9] Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old due to a congenital defect; he was born missing the outside of both feet and both fibulae.

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Did you now this year the triathlon for the men in the Olympics and the women's para triathlon men's triathlon the to Brownlee brothers came first and second for Britain and in the para triathlon women's the two Australians came first and second.

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Canada beat them in the grand final match four years ago.

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Rio Paralympics: Australia's latest win over Canada in wheelchair basketball the sweetest of them all

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A win over the nation that denied them back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in London? Check. A perfect 3-0 record to start their Paralympics campaign in Rio? Check.

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Paralympic Games on the BBC

Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4

Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

Dame Sarah Storey and Hannah Cockroft both won their second golds of the Rio Paralympics, as GB surpassed their London 2012 total on day seven.

ParalympicsGB's nine golds on Wednesday took their tally to 43, improving on their 34 four years ago.

In a prolific evening session, they won 10 medals in the space of an hour in swimming and athletics.

Cockroft won the T34 400m in a world-record time while Storey was victorious earlier in the C5 cycling time trial.

She was one of three time-trial gold medallists for Britain, along with Karen Darke and Steve Bate.

Kadeena Cox set a world record of one minute 0.71 seconds to win the T38 400m in athletics, and Sophie Wells was victorious in the Grade IV dressage individual championship.
Listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary as Cox wins 400m gold
Britain had an excellent night in the pool with Aaron Moores pipping team-mate Scott Quin to gold for a one-two in the men's SB14 100m breaststroke and Michael Jones and Jonathan Fox taking first and second respectively in the men's S7 400m freestyle final.

Hannah Russell added to the haul with gold and knocked nine tenths of a second off her own world record in the women's S12 100m backstroke.

"I've been training for four hard years and I wanted to execute the perfect race, so to do it here is fantastic," said Russell, who also won a silver and two bronzes at London 2012.

Cockroft triumphed in the T34 400m on the track in a world record of 58.78secs, while her 15-year-old team-mate Kare Adenegan finished third for her second medal of the Paralympics.

The 24-year-old from Halifax won Saturday's 100m final and can make it three with victory in Friday's 800m final.
Cockroft on 5 live: 'I don't want a 15-year-old to beat me'
GB's 60-minute medal blitz:

21:42 - Claire Cashmore wins silver in the women's SB8 100m breaststroke final

21:42 - Hannah Cockroft takes T34 400m gold, with Adenegan third

21:52 - Michael Jones and Jonathan Fox seal a GB one-two in the S7 400m

22:03 - Susannah Rodgers wins bronze in the women's S7 400m freestyle

22:11 - Aaron Moores and Scott Quin make it another one-two in the pool in the SB14 100m

22:18 - Bethany Firth wins silver in the women's SB14 100m breaststroke

22:45 - Hannah Russell takes gold in the women's S12 100m backstroke

A golden Storey

Storey, 38, now has 13 career Paralympic gold medals and has won two events at these Games, with her triumph in the 3km pursuit on the track last week having already made her Britain's most successful female Paralympian.

"I wasn't 100% sure I had won [Wednesday's time trial]," she told Channel 4. "Your time checks are brilliant but until the announcer says it you're not sure."

Barcelona 1992 - 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley

Atlanta 1996 - 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley

Beijing 2008 - road time trial, track individual pursuit

London 2012 - road time trial, road race, track individual pursuit, track time trial

Rio 2016 - road time trial, track 3km pursuit

The golden flat-mates

Darke, 45, went one better than her silver medal at London 2012 to win the hand-cycling H1-3 time trial, despite having to put her chain back on part way through the 20km course.

Her gold medal came minutes after her Paralympic Village flat-mate Cox had secured her third medal of the Games with her record-breaking T38 400m on the athletics track.
Cox on 5 live: 'It doesn't even feel real'

Inspired to try athletics?

Find out how to get into athletics with our inclusive guide.

Cox, 25, has now claimed gold medals and world records in two sports in Rio, having won the track cycling C4-5 time trial in a best-ever time as well, while she also won T38 100m bronze.

She is the first British Paralympian to win two golds in two different sports at the same Games since 1984, when Peter Haslam topped the podium in both shooting and snooker.

Bate and his pilot Adam Duggleby won Britain's third cycling gold of the day with victory in the men's B tandem time-trial.

It was the pair's second gold of the Games after their tandem pursuit win.

The medals kept coming

Andy Lapthorne - who took doubles bronze with Jamie Burdekin on Tuesday - added to GB's tally with silver in the men's wheelchair tennis quad singles, losing 6-3 6-4 to Australian world number one Dylan Alcott.

ParalympicsGB flag-bearer Lee Pearson also took silver in the Grade Ib dressage individual championship on his horse Zion to take his Paralympic Games medal tally to 13.

Lora Turnham and her pilot Corrine Hall finished third in the women's B tandem time trial and there was also a bronze medal for 16-year-old Maria Lyle in the T35 100m final, whose class-mates watched from their school hall in the UK.

David Stone, who won gold at London 2012, took bronze in the men's tricycle T1-2 time trial.

F1's Zanardi wins 15 years after crash

Elsewhere, Italian former Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi continued his dominance of Paralympic hand-cycling by adding the H5 road time trial title to his two gold medals from London 2012 on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the crash in which he lost both legs.

He goes for gold again on Thursday in the road race (13:30 BST).

And Iran's Siamand Rahman set three new world records in 30 minutes in the men's +107kg powerflifting, winning gold with a lift of 310kg, or 75kg more than his nearest rival, or, according to Paralympics officials "the weight of a Siberian tiger".

GB still in medal hunt

In their quarter-final match, the GB men's wheelchair basketball team delivered one of their greatest ever performances at a Paralympics to beat world champions Australia 74-51.

Paralympic debutant Phil Pratt impressed again with 20 points, while team-mate Ian Sagar was the top scorer on 26.

They face Spain in the semi-finals on Thursday evening - just a few hours after the GB women bid for a place in their final by taking on the USA.

Back on the athletics track, David Weir cruised into the final of the men's T54 800m, winning his heat in a time of 1:37.30.

And Ukraine now await the GB men's 6-8 table tennis team after Will Bayley beat Spain's Jordi Morales to secure a place in the semi-finals.

Analysis
BBC Sport's Elizabeth Hudson in Rio
Andy Lapthorne lost out to Australia's Dylan Alcott in the quad singles gold medal match but with three GB wheelchair tennis medals already secured and another three guaranteed, it has been a successful few days in Rio.

Wins for Gordon Reid and teenager Alfie Hewett set up an all-British clash for Friday's men's singles final and guaranteed GB gold and silver, but first the duo will line up together in Thursday's doubles final to face France.

Reid, the Wimbledon champion, beat world number one Stephane Houdet of France but rising star Hewett, the world number 12, has exceeded all expectations in his first Paralympics, defeating the world number two Joachim Gerard of Belgium.

A Para-canoe debut

There was a clean sweep of British success in Para-canoeing's debut at the Paralympics, as Jeanette Chippington (KL1), Ian Marsden (KL1), Emma Wiggs (KL2) and Anne Dickins (KL3) all won their heats to go into Thursday's finals.

Nick Beighton (KL2) also progressed by coming second in his heat, while Rob Oliver (KL3) won his semi-final to progress.

Five-time world champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell sit second overall in the SKUD18 two-person keelboat sailing.

Defeat for wheelchair fencers and wheelchair rugby

Wheelchair fencer Dimitri Coutya, 18, exited the men's individual foil category B competition at the quarter-final stage, losing 15-12 to China's Hu Daoliang.

Piers Gilliver, who won silver in the individual epee category A on Tuesday, failed to progress from the foil preliminary pool stages.

Inspired to try a new sport?

Find out how to get into just about any sport with our special guides

Meanwhile ParalympicsGB suffered a narrow defeat by Australia in their opening game in the wheelchair rugby.

Debutant Jim Roberts scored 27 points but they went down 53-51 to the reigning world and Paralympic champions.

Britain's world record holder Matt Skelhon, who scored a Paralympics record of 622.5 in qualifying, came seventh in the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone final.

ParalympicsGB's men's football 7-a-side team finished their campaign with a dominant 2-0 victory over Argentina to secure fifth place in what was their last Games appearance after the event was dropped from the Tokyo 2020 schedule.

Day eight - key timings (GB unless otherwise stated)

13:00 - Defending Paralympic champion Natasha Baker in equestrian's dressage Grade II individual championship test final

13:00 - Jeanette Chippington in Para-canoeing women's KL1 final

13:08 - Ian Marsden in Para-canoeing men's KL1 final

13:16 - Four-time world champion Emma Wiggs in Para-canoeing women's KL2 final

13:34 - Nick Beighton in Para-canoeing men's KL2 final

13:30 - Ex-Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi of Italy goes for his second Rio gold in the H5 hand-cycling road race on the anniversary of the 2001 crash in which he lost both legs.

15:45 - GB v USA in women's wheelchair basketball semi-final

13:52 - Anne Dickens in Para-canoeing women's KL3 final

13:55 - Ellie Simmonds and Charlotte Henshaw in women's SB6 100m breaststroke heats (final 21:50)

14:10 - Rob Oliver in Para-canoeing men's KL3 final

16:02 - David Weir v Switzerland's Marcel Hug in men's T54 800m final

16:20 - Karen Darke goes for a second gold in the women's H1-4 hand-cycling road race

16:45 - Defending Paralympic champion Sophie Christiansen in equestrian's dressage Grade Ia individual championship test final

16:45 - GB v Canada in wheelchair rugby pool game

18:00 - GB's team of Will Bayley, Aaron McKibbin & Ross Wilson face Ukraine in men's team class 6-8 semi-final

Not before 19:00 - Gordon Reid & Alfie Hewett v Stephane Houdet & Nicolas Peifer (Fra) - in wheelchair tennis men's doubles gold medal match

21:30 - GB v Spain in men's wheelchair basketball semi-final

21:40 - Holly Neill in women's F41 Discus final

21:45 - Laura Sugar faces Paralympic star Marlou van Rhijn of the Netherlands in the women's T44 200m final

22:17 - Richard Whitehead going for T42 sprint-double in the men's T42 100m final

23:31 - Kadeena Cox and Georgina Hermitage go for a third gold each, joined by Sophie Hahn and Olivia Breen in women's T35-38 4x100m relay final

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Rio 2016 Paralympics: Dame Sarah Storey and Hannah Cockroft win gold

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Paralympic Games on the BBC Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dates: 7-18 September Time in Rio: BST -4 Coverage: Live updates, video clips, medal table, results and news alerts, catch-up service, plus commentary on BBC Radio 5 live. Television coverage on Channel 4.

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The opening ceremony

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2016 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony

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2016 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zsyxxsg#zxjjj6f

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The boy from Devonport Jacob Templeton has done another fantastic performance in the paralympics swimming

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Night seven of swimming finals saw just three Aussies compete in individual events as well as the first relay of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games – the men’s 34 point freestyle re

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Did you know there is 23 sports at the Paralympics?

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Summer Olympics memorable moments of paralympics

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Did you know that in the 1896 Olympics an olive branch a certificate and silver medal engraved with the face of Zeus is a Greek god and the the face of Nike the Greek goddess of victory

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Click on the picture to see an article about Australian long jumper Brayden Davidson who won gold and got a new record!

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To use this website, cookies must be enabled in your browser. To enable cookies, follow the instructions for your browser below.
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Until the Paralympics came along athletes with disabilities did sometimes compete in the Olympics. In fact, in 1904, American gymnast George Eyser won three gold medals in just one day, with an artificial leg. South African runner Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee and former gold medal Paralympian, will compete in the Olympics this summer too.

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After the drama of the Olympics come the equally impressive Paralympics. This year is set to be the biggest ever staged.

But how much do you know about this amazing sporting spectacle which begins on August 29, running for 11 days?

PA Torchbearer Ade Adepitan on the Millennium Bridge

Here, from the amazing athletes involved to where it all began, we've got the inside track...

1. Until the Paralympics came along athletes with disabilities did sometimes compete in the Olympics. In fact, in 1904, American gymnast George Eyser won three gold medals in just one day, with an artificial leg. South African runner Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee and former gold medal Paralympian, will compete in the Olympics this summer too.

2. The first attempt to organise a specific contest for those with disabilities came in 1948. It was organised by Dr Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, for British World War II patients who had suffered spinal cord injuries. Sixteen veterans took part in an archery competition.

3. The mascot for the 2012 Paralympics, Mandeville, recalls this heritage.

PA Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville (left)

4. The Games got an international dimension in 1952 when the Dutch joined. The tournament continued to grow and in 1960 what is now considered the first Paralympic Games was held in Rome, Italy, with 400 athletes from 23 countries taking part in eight sports.

5. From then on the Paralympic Games were held every four years and athletes with different disabilities were allowed to participate from the 1976 Games held in Toronto, Canada.

6. At the Seoul games in 1988 the Paralympics were held in the same city and venues as the Summer Olympics for the first time.

7. Athletes from 165 countries are set to compete at this year's Summer Paralympics in London, 19 more than at Beijing in 2008.

8. Some 4200 athletes will take part in 20 sports at 20 venues in 503 medal events with over two million tickets for spectators.

9. Britain's most successful Paralympians include Tanni-Grey Thompson, who took part in wheelchair racing in the 100metre, 400 metre, and 800 metre events as well as basketball. She notched up 16 medals, 11 of them gold between 1988 and 2004.

10. Brit swimmer David Roberts also has 11 golds.

11.American swimmer Trischa Zorn tops the all time Paralympics medals table with 55 medals, 41 of them gold.

12.The 2008 Paralympics saw 279 world records broken. Expect more to tumble.

13. In 2008 Team GB came second to China in the medal table with an incredible 102 medals - 42 of them gold.

14. Just as there was an Olympic Torch Relay there is a Paralympic Torch Relay as well as celebratory Flame Festivals around the country. There will be a 24 hour Torch Relay from Stoke Mandeville to the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.

15. Team GB stars to watch out for this year include top wheelchair racer David Weir and swimmer and cyclist Sarah Storey. She already has five gold medals and will be going for more gongs on her bike.

16. British swimmer Eleanor Simmonds became our youngest ever individual gold medallist aged just 13 at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics winning top spot in the 100m and 400m freestyle.

PA Eleanor Simmonds with her two gold medals at the homecoming parade in 2008

17. Joanne Round was Britain's youngest ever Paralympic gold medal winner taking two swimming relay golds in Seoul in 1998 aged just 12 years old.

18. The Paralympic symbol is made up of three "agitos", coloured red, blue, and green, being the colours most widely included in national flags. The 'para' in the title is because the Games run parallel to the Olympic Games.

19. Among the sports are athletics, wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and boccia, a sport a bit like the French boules.

20. Paralympic Events will take place at the Olympic Park as well as in a River Zone which includes ExCel, Greenwich Park, the Royal Artillery Barracks and North Greenwich Arenas. There will also be sailing at Weymouth, road cycling in central London and rowing at Eton Dorney. Eton Manor, within the Park will host Paralympic tennis.

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20 Fascinating Facts About The Paralympics

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After the drama of the Olympics come the equally impressive Paralympics. This year is set to be the biggest ever staged. But how much do you know about this amazing sporting spectacle which begins on August 29, running for 11 days?

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Britain’s most successful Paralympians include Tanni-Grey Thompson, who took part in wheelchair racing in the 100metre, 400 metre, and 800 metre events as well as basketball. She notched up 16 medals, 11 of them gold between 1988 and 2004.     Until the Paralympics came along athletes with disabilities did sometimes compete in the Olympics. In fact, in 1904, American gymnast George Eyser won three gold medals in just one day, with an artificial leg. South African runner Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee and former gold medal Paralympian, will compete in the Olympics this summer too.http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/23/20-fascinating-facts-about-the-paralympics_n_7375398.html        Among the sports are athletics, wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and boccia, a sport a bit like the French boules.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After the drama of the Olympics come the equally impressive Paralympics. This year is set to be the biggest ever staged.

But how much do you know about this amazing sporting spectacle which begins on August 29, running for 11 days?

PA Torchbearer Ade Adepitan on the Millennium Bridge

Here, from the amazing athletes involved to where it all began, we've got the inside track...

1. Until the Paralympics came along athletes with disabilities did sometimes compete in the Olympics. In fact, in 1904, American gymnast George Eyser won three gold medals in just one day, with an artificial leg. South African runner Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee and former gold medal Paralympian, will compete in the Olympics this summer too.

2. The first attempt to organise a specific contest for those with disabilities came in 1948. It was organised by Dr Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, for British World War II patients who had suffered spinal cord injuries. Sixteen veterans took part in an archery competition.

3. The mascot for the 2012 Paralympics, Mandeville, recalls this heritage.

PA Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville (left)

4. The Games got an international dimension in 1952 when the Dutch joined. The tournament continued to grow and in 1960 what is now considered the first Paralympic Games was held in Rome, Italy, with 400 athletes from 23 countries taking part in eight sports.

5. From then on the Paralympic Games were held every four years and athletes with different disabilities were allowed to participate from the 1976 Games held in Toronto, Canada.

6. At the Seoul games in 1988 the Paralympics were held in the same city and venues as the Summer Olympics for the first time.

7. Athletes from 165 countries are set to compete at this year's Summer Paralympics in London, 19 more than at Beijing in 2008.

8. Some 4200 athletes will take part in 20 sports at 20 venues in 503 medal events with over two million tickets for spectators.

9. Britain's most successful Paralympians include Tanni-Grey Thompson, who took part in wheelchair racing in the 100metre, 400 metre, and 800 metre events as well as basketball. She notched up 16 medals, 11 of them gold between 1988 and 2004.

10. Brit swimmer David Roberts also has 11 golds.

11.American swimmer Trischa Zorn tops the all time Paralympics medals table with 55 medals, 41 of them gold.

12.The 2008 Paralympics saw 279 world records broken. Expect more to tumble.

13. In 2008 Team GB came second to China in the medal table with an incredible 102 medals - 42 of them gold.

14. Just as there was an Olympic Torch Relay there is a Paralympic Torch Relay as well as celebratory Flame Festivals around the country. There will be a 24 hour Torch Relay from Stoke Mandeville to the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.

15. Team GB stars to watch out for this year include top wheelchair racer David Weir and swimmer and cyclist Sarah Storey. She already has five gold medals and will be going for more gongs on her bike.

16. British swimmer Eleanor Simmonds became our youngest ever individual gold medallist aged just 13 at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics winning top spot in the 100m and 400m freestyle.

PA Eleanor Simmonds with her two gold medals at the homecoming parade in 2008

17. Joanne Round was Britain's youngest ever Paralympic gold medal winner taking two swimming relay golds in Seoul in 1998 aged just 12 years old.

18. The Paralympic symbol is made up of three "agitos", coloured red, blue, and green, being the colours most widely included in national flags. The 'para' in the title is because the Games run parallel to the Olympic Games.

19. Among the sports are athletics, wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and boccia, a sport a bit like the French boules.

20. Paralympic Events will take place at the Olympic Park as well as in a River Zone which includes ExCel, Greenwich Park, the Royal Artillery Barracks and North Greenwich Arenas. There will also be sailing at Weymouth, road cycling in central London and rowing at Eton Dorney. Eton Manor, within the Park will host Paralympic tennis.

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20 Fascinating Facts About The Paralympics

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After the drama of the Olympics come the equally impressive Paralympics. This year is set to be the biggest ever staged. But how much do you know about this amazing sporting spectacle which begins on August 29, running for 11 days?

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https://www.paralympic.org/news/it-s-double-wheelchair-tennis-gold-alcottAlcott backed up his gold in the quad doubles with another victory, this time in the quad singles, on Wednesday (14 September

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The Paralympic torch relay will begin with five individual flames being relayed to a city in each of the five regions of Brazil.

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More than 4,000 athletes from more than 160 teams worldwide are set to take part in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday evening local time (7 September 2016).

The ceremony is set to start at 5.30pm Rio time at the Maracana Stadium, which also played host to the Summer Olympic Games opening show in August.

Where can I watch the opening ceremony?

Around 50,000 tickets were available for the show, but you can still watch the ceremony outside of Brazil. In the UK, Channel 4 will begin its broadcast of the ceremony at 9pm (BST) which will be hosted by Clare Balding and Adam Hills and will end at around 1.30am.

American viewers can watch on NBC, which holds the rights to the Paralympics coverage in the States.

Who will take part in the opening ceremony?

Around 500 professional staff, including choreographers and artists, and 2,000 volunteers will take part in the opening ceremony. More than 4,000 athletes representing 160 teams from around the world, each with its own flag-bearer, will participate in the show.

Who will lead the opening ceremony parade?

Ibrahim Al Hussein, a Syrian refugee who will compete as part of the Independent Paralympic Athletes team at the Games, will lead this year's opening ceremony.

Who else should I look out for in the ceremony?

US snowboarder and Paralympic medallist Amy Purdy, who won bronze at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games, will perform a samba dance at the opening ceremony.

What is the theme of the show?

The theme is Every Body Has A Heart - which will focus on the human condition, feelings, challenges, solidarity and love. It was created by three directors: designer Fred Gelli, writer Marcel Rubens Paiva and artist Vik Muniz.

What will happen?

The ceremony remains a secret, but we know it will include the live creation of a mosaic using 500 plates to form a piece of art by Muniz. One of the highlights will be the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron, which will signal the official start of the Games. The quadrangular torch reflects the four Paralympic values - courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

How many athletes compete in the Paralympics?

Around 4,350 athletes from more than 160 countries will be competing in more than 500 medal events in 22 different sports. This year, more women than ever will participate in the Paralympics, with around 1,650 taking part - an increase of nearly 10% compared with London 2012.

Where can I find a schedule for the events?

This year will see the debut of the triathlon and canoe events, alongside favourites such as swimming, athletics and cycling. The full timetable of events can be accessed here and you can find out where the events will take place here.

Where will the games take place?

There will be 21 competition venues in four regions across the city: Copacabana, Maracana, Deodoro and Barra.

When will the Games finish?

The Rio Paralympics will come to an end on Sunday 18 September.

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Rio Paralympics 2016: 10 things you need to know about the Games and opening ceremony

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More than 4,000 athletes from more than 160 teams worldwide are set to take part in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday evening local time (7 September 2016). The ceremony is set to start at 5.30pm Rio time at the Maracana Stadium, which also played host to the Summer Olympic Games opening show in August.

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Isis, the reigning world champion and world record holder, missed out on gold by 0.09 seconds in the women's T35 100m final in Rio, behind China's Xia Zhou. In grade 9!

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2016 Rio Paralympics: Australian year nine student Isis Holt wins silver

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Her name is Isis Holt and she wants to be like Usain Bolt.

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Did you know it was the 60th Paralympic Games?

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* Synopsis: The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games were the 15th Paralympics and took place in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 2016. Last Revised/Updated: 2017-12-02.

Main Document

The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games were the fifteenth Paralympics and took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. The host city of the Games was announced at the 121st IOC Session (which was also the 13th Olympic Congress) held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2, 2009.

The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the fifteenth Summer Paralympic Games were a major international multi-sport event for disabled athletes governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from September 7 to September 18, 2016 making them the first Summer Paralympics to be held during the host city's wintertime.

The Rio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics was a successful campaign, first recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 14, 2007 after two failed attempts for the 2004 and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Rio de Janeiro held all the competitions inside the city, as was done in the XV Pan American Games.

According to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid committee, the bid's concept is based on four principles;

technical excellence,

experience of a lifetime,

transformation,

supporting the Olympic and Paralympic Movements.

The Summer Olympics and Paralympics embedded the Games in society, through programs for job generation, education, community outreach, volunteerism, training and up-skilling initiatives.

The principle, "Supporting the Olympic and Paralympic Movements", combined the expansion interests of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements.

Using the Olympics Live initiative and the powerful influence of Brazil in South America, the Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid committee hoped to impact a new audience for the Olympic and Paralympic brands, supporting the IOC's strategy.

In the United Kingdom, Channel 4 broadcasted the 2016 Summer Paralympics, with 500 hours of coverage.

In Australia, the Seven Network broadcasted 14 hours per day of live coverage through its Seven Sport brand.

In the longer term, the 2016 Paralympic Games left an important legacy, both in terms of improved accessibility in public spaces and on public transport, and in changing perceptions towards people with a disability.

Quick Facts: 2016 Paralympic Venues

Barra Cluster

Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Swimming

Olympic Hockey Stadium - Football (5-a-side and 7-a-side)

Olympic Tennis Stadium - Wheelchair Tennis

Olympic Training Center - Goalball, Judo, Wheelchair Basketball

Riocentro - Boccia, Powerlifting, Table Tennis

Rio Olympic Arena - Wheelchair Rugby

Copacabana Cluster

Flamengo Park- Cycling

Marina da Gloria - Sailing

Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas - Rowing

Deodoro Cluster

National Shooting Center - Shooting

Fencing Arena - Wheelchair Fencing

Maracan Cluster

Maracan Stadium - Opening, Closing and some Awards Ceremony's

Havelange Olympic Stadium - Athletics

Maracanazinho - Sitting Volleyball

Sambadrome Marques de Sapucai - Archery, Marathon and some Awards Ceremonies

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Synopsis: The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games were the 15th Paralympics and took place in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 2016. Last Revised/Updated: 2017-12-02. The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games were the fifteenth Paralympics and took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.

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Australia wins silver . Did you know she wants to be like Usian Bolt! In grade nine!! To bad she didn't win gold.

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The first attempt to organise a specific contest for those with disabilities came in 1948. It was organised by Dr Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, for British World War II patients who had suffered spinal cord injuries. Sixteen veterans took part in an archery competition.

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Updated September 12, 2016 13:41:07

Katie Kelly has won gold for Australia in the PT5 triathlon at the Paralympics, while Maddison Elliott has also topped the podium at the pool in Rio.

Kelly and her guide Michellie Jones, who won silver in the women's triathlon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, beat home British pair Alison Patrick and Melissa Reid to claim victory at Rio's Copacabana beach in 1 hour, 12 minutes and 18 seconds across the swim (750 metres), cycling (22.28km) and run (5km) legs.

Elliott won gold in the S8 100m freestyle final in a Paralympic record time of 1:04.73, with Lakeisha Patterson (1:05.08) adding a silver to her victory in Friday's (AEST) 400m freestyle final.

Meanwhile, Kurt Fearnley, Taylor Doyle and Angie Ballard managed podium finishes for Australia in track and field, as did Erik Horrie in rowing, and Tim Disken and Daniel Fox at the swimming.

Kelly was elated to win gold after being troubled by injury in the build-up to Rio.

"I was saying to Michellie that it's something that you wish for, but these triathlon competitions I never take it for granted and it's hard work out there. You can't underestimate how hard it is to get there," Kelly told APC Media.

"So when Michellie said, 'KK, we're going to get on that blue carpet (finish line) - you can enjoy it,' I thought 'No, I'm going to get to the finish line first'.

"I'm just really honoured and chuffed, and to do that in para-triathlon here in Rio is a really special moment.

"When I crossed the finish line I felt relieved. I've just been through such an intense training, and to keep the body in shape it takes so much."

Jones said assisting Kelly in Rio meant more than her silver at the Sydney Olympics.

"This is so much better because when I think of everything KK has been through and to be able of doing everything she's done in such short amount of time," she said.

"To me this is the best thing that I've ever done."

In other triathlon results, Claire McLean finished fourth in the women's PT4 event with fellow Australian Kate Doughty placing fifth.

Elliott storms to 100m freestyle victory

Elliott was a bronze medallist at the London Paralympics, when aged just 13, and she climbed higher on the podium in Rio with a clinical performance in the final.

"I'm actually pretty happy to get my main event out of the way and for it to be a gold, I am super stoked," Elliott said.

"I was a bit worried because we had a Brazilian swimmer in the race so the crowd was really bizarre, but I was just like I have to learn to focus on my own event and my race plan, and that's what I did, and managed to get the Paralympic record."

Disken was third in the SM9 200m individual medley, posting a time of 2:17.72 behind Italian gold medallist Federico Morlacchi.

Fox also won bronze in the S14 200m freestyle final with a time of 1:56.59, while Hong Kong's Tang Wai-lok scooped the gold in 1:56.32.

Fearnley adds to medal tally

Fearnley won bronze in the 5,000m T54 on the track in Rio.

Thailand's Prawat Wahoram took out first place and was closely followed by Switzerland's Marcel, Hug.

Fearnley won gold in the event at the 2004 Athens Games before taking out silver behind Wahoram in Beijing and David Weir in London.

The 35-year-old is also scheduled to compete in the T53/54 1,500m, marathon and 4x400m.

Fearnley is a two-time winner of the marathon - in 2004 and 2008 - but finished third at London 2012.

Doyle provided Australia with another long jump top-three finish in Rio, winning silver in the T38 classification with a best leap of 4.62m.

Ballard added a second medal to her Rio haul and seventh in total at the Paralympics, with bronze in the women's T53 400m following her third-place finish in the 100m on Friday.

Horrie collected silver in the men's single sculls at the rowing regatta.

In other events, Sam von Einem is guaranteed a medal in the men's table tennis after advancing to the final of the class 11 event.

Von Einem defeated Korea's Gi-Tae Kim 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11) to secure Australia's first medal in the sport since 1984.

And the Australian Rollers sustained their first defeat of the Paralympics after losing 75-64 to Spain.

First posted September 11, 2016 23:36:30

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Aussies Kelly, Elliott win Rio Paralympics gold

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Updated September 12, 2016 13:41:07 Katie Kelly has won gold for Australia in the PT5 triathlon at the Paralympics, while Maddison Elliott has also topped the podium at the pool in Rio.

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But the Rio performance is particularly astonishing given the country's recent history, with an economic crisis, war in the east and the loss of their main training centre in Crimea after the region was taken over by Russia.

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When it comes to the Olympics and Paralympics, China, the US, Russia and Britain (these days) are usually to be found near the top of both medal tables.

But there is one country that, while producing its worst ever performance at the Rio Olympics last month, becomes a world superpower once the Paralympics start - Ukraine.

Sixth in Athens in 2004, they finished fourth at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Now they are poised to go one better, sitting a comfortable third in the medal table in Rio.

But the Rio performance is particularly astonishing given the country's recent history, with an economic crisis, war in the east and the loss of their main training centre in Crimea after the region was taken over by Russia.

The country's President, Petro Poroshenko, has described the performance of the Ukrainian Paralympians as "incredible", adding that the athletes prove "that the impossible is possible".

Ukraine's own Paralympic chief, Valeriy Sushkevych, is the man credited with much of the success, in particular a programme he developed called Invasport.

Invasport works by having schools and facilities dedicated to Paralympic sports in every oblast (region) of Ukraine.

"In Ukraine we have set up the best system of physical education, sport and rehabilitation for people with disability," Mr Sushkevych told the BBC.

"There is infrastructure in all regions of Ukraine, with schools for children with disabilities. This system works and brings results.

"But the system can't work without people... people who withstand all these problems: lack of money, political crisis, war and all other troubles. And these people are extremely dedicated."

Mr Sushkevych, who himself had polio as a child and who has spent most of his life using a wheelchair for mobility, says the system emphasises rehabilitation for all disabled children who enter it - but promises much more for those who appear promising at sport.

"We invite people for rehabilitation, and amongst those 100 who come, we find maybe five who are good at swimming, or football or athletics," he explains.

"We have to give them opportunity to realise their own potential."

'Huge professionalism'

The way that Invasport works means that facilities and recruitment are spread out through the country, rather than concentrated in one area.

As Mr Sushkevych told the BBC, this meant that Ukraine's Paralympians were able to come even when the main training base, the Yevpatoria facility in Crimea, was taken over by Russia in 2014.

"We had to find other options for athletes to train - and I have to say that those were not the best conditions," he said.

"But we had to adjust to those conditions, and even had to train in old post-Soviet facilities. Experience, knowledge and huge professionalism of the team made this result possible."

Ukraine's amazing rise at Paralympics

2016 Rio - 27 gold medals - 3rd place overall (as of 14 Sept)

2012 London - 32 gold medals - 4th

2008 Beijing - 24 golds - 4th

2004 Athens - 24 golds - 6th

2000 Sydney - 3 golds - 35th

1996 Atlanta - 1 gold - 44th (Ukraine's first Games as independent nation)

The pay-off has been an extraordinary 72 medals at the time of writing - some 42 of which are in the pool.

Powerlifter Lidiya Solovyova, who has won a gold medal, says that her main motivation to succeed is the fact that Ukraine does not offer many opportunities to people with disabilities outside of sport.

For many, it is quite literally sink or swim.

"This is my main job," she explains.

"In our country it is very difficult to find a job for people with disability... Paralympic sport is my main income. I live off it."

After the loss of the Yevpatoria camp, she has been training at her hotel - which she acknowledges may have affected some of her teammates and prevented them from achieving even more.

"The camp was specifically designed for athletes with disability, all facilities," says Solovyova, who has dwarfism.

"!We felt like home over there and at the hotel we were like guests. For me it was OK, I don't know about others."

Ukraine's steady decline at Olympics

2016 Rio - 2 gold medals - 31st place overall

2012 London - 6 golds - 14th

2008 Beijing - 7 golds - 11th

2004 Athens - 8 golds - 13th

2000 Sydney - 3 golds - 21st

1996 Atlanta - 9 golds - 9th (Ukraine's first Games as independent nation)

Mr Sushkevych says he agrees that - not least because of the war - the level of preparation was "not the highest possible".

"The world sees the successful side of my team, what has been achieved - but no-one sees what has not been achieved," he says.

"I can definitely tell you that we could have performed better if there was no war in Ukraine. And the aim for my whole team in the Ukrainian Paralympics movement is to show the best possible as it is so important for my country."

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Ukraine's Paralympic success: What's the secret?

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When it comes to the Olympics and Paralympics, China, the US, Russia and Britain (these days) are usually to be found near the top of both medal tables. But there is one country that, while producing its worst ever performance at the Rio Olympics last month, becomes a world superpower once the Paralympics start - Ukraine.

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You get out of the Paralympics if you have a sighn like a tatoo
Of the Olympic rings

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Paralympic champion swimmer is disqualified from a race for failing to cover up his Olympic rings tattoo - because it broke ADVERTISING rules

Josef Craig was banned from European Championships over chest tattoo

19-year-old had won his 100m freestyle heat but missed out on the final

Organisers said advertising is not allowed, including the Olympic rings

Craig was GB's youngest gold medallist at the 2012 London Paralympics

A teenage paralympic champion swimmer was disqualified from a race because organisers said his Olympic tattoo breached advertising rules.

Josef Craig, who was GB's youngest gold medallist at the London Paralympics, was banned from the race at the IPC European Championships event because he did not cover up his chest tattoo of the Olympic rings.

The 19-year-old from Sunderland had won his heat in the S8 100m freestyle but missed out on Sunday's final after being disqualified over the artwork.

The following day, for the S8 400m freestyle heats, Craig swam with a cover on the tattoo.

An International Paralympic Committee spokesman said body advertising is not allowed 'in any way whatsoever', including the Olympic rings.

They said: 'The athlete did not wear a cover and was therefore disqualified.

'All teams are informed of the advertising policy at a technical meeting prior to competition so it wasn't as if they had not been reminded about the rules.

'On Monday the athlete covered the tattoo and was therefore able to compete.'

The City of Sunderland swimmer, who has cerebral palsy, was Britain's youngest gold medallist at the 2012 games.

His mother Kim said: 'He's covered the tattoo now. It's taped over and as long as it stays like that he can compete.'

The incident, at the event in Funchal, Portugal, took place a few days after Josef achieved a qualifying time for the Paralympic Games in Rio.

Fan Lynn Mills said: 'I could understand if it was offensive but this is ridiculous.'

Another supporter Karen Broadhead added: 'Will Tom Daley have to cover his too?'

The Olympic rings are the property of the International Olympic Committee.

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Paralympic champion swimmer is disqualified from Olympic tattoo

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Josef Craig was banned from European Championships over chest tattoo 19-year-old had won his 100m freestyle heat but missed out on the final Organisers said advertising is not allowed, including the Olympic rings Craig was GB's youngest gold medallist at the 2012 London Paralympics A teenage paralympic champion swimmer was disqualified from a race because organisers said his Olympic tattoo breached advertising rules.

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Rio 2016: Brayden Davidson defies bullies to win Paralympic gold
By Claire Campbell
Updated yesterday at 6:43pm

Brayden Davidson celebrates winning Paralympics gold

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GB take medal total to 56 after eight golds on day four.🙂

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Go Australia!👍

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I saw the swimming on Saturday with people without arm or their legs it was awesome even though we came 8 and 6

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http://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/37334785

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I wached swimming and Australia one GOLD!

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http://www.smh.com.au/sport/rio-paralympics-australias-latest-win-over-canada-in-wheelchair-basketball-the-sweetest-of-them-all-20160911-grdmvr.html

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This is a question can anybody ansewer it how do China have 38 gold medals

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Rio 2016: Katie Kelly, Maddison Elliott win Paralympics gold for Australia
Updated 47 minutes ago

Stunning win ... Katie Kelly (L) crosses the finish line alongside guide Michellie Jones
PHOTO: Stunning win ... Katie Kelly (L) crosses the finish line alongside guide Michellie Jones (AFP: Yasuyoshi Chiba)
RELATED STORY: Seven medals for Australia on day three in Rio
MAP: Brazil
Katie Kelly has won gold for Australia in the PT5 triathlon at the Paralympics, while Maddison Elliott has also topped the podium at the pool in Rio.

Kelly and her guide Michellie Jones, who won silver in the women's triathlon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, beat home British pair Alison Patrick and Melissa Reid to claim victory at Rio's Copacabana beach in 1 hour, 12 minutes and 18 seconds across the swim (750 metres), cycling (22.28km) and run (5km) legs.

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I sore the 1500m race and Australia came second. The runner for Australia was actually Tasmanian.

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The blades that a person

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I saw the 400 swimmer and she won the first gold medal for Australia!!!!

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-11/kurt-fearnley-wins-bronze-at-paralympic-games/7834576

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Australia are doing well in the pool

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I saw wheelchair basket ball Australia won against the Netherlands it was great

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China have 38 gold medals already.

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I can't wait for the men's para-triathlon.

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I think it's amazing how these people have the strength and the stanima to run the 1500 m it's amazing!!!!

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Updated September 11, 2016 13:07:15

Rio's Maracana Stadium has proved a happy hunting ground for Tasmania's Paralympians, with Deon Kenzie and Todd Hodgetts both picking up medals on day three of competition.

Kenzie, from Penguin, picked up a silver medal in the 1,500-metre T38 track event, finishing behind Tunisia's world champion Abbes Saidi.

"It's so unreal out here and to come away with a silver medal I'm absolutely stoked," Kenzie told Channel 7.

"I ran it exactly how I needed to and I came home with a silver medal."

Kenzie lead with 400 metres to go, eventually coming home in a time of 4:14.65 which is six seconds outside his world record time.

"When you're competing at the world stage anything can happen so it's just really about racing and not the time," he said.

"I didn't get the gold but I'll be back in four years time going for it that's for sure."

Launceston's Todd Hodgetts was favourite to defend his Paralympic gold medal in the F20 shotput event, and in the end it took a champion effort to claim the bronze.

Hodgetts was sitting in fourth place heading in to the final round before improving his throw to make the podium.

"I'm happy I came back in that last round like the champion I am," he said.

"I'm not disappointed, what have I got to be disappointed about, all you've got to do is beat yourself and I'm happy how it went.

"That means more than London because I came back, that's what a champion does, this is not the end."

Malaysia's Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli won the gold medal and in doing so broke Hodgetts world record mark.

"He's amazing, I've got respect for him, he beat me on the day," he said.

An upbeat Hodgetts did not rule out another Paralympic tilt, saying he was proud of his achievements.

"I train by myself, I wrote my own training program and I did it all by myself and I'm proud of that because I'm a Hodgetts," he said.

"They'll never take London 2012 off me, I don't care what they say because a true champion always comes back."

First posted September 11, 2016 12:37:43

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Tasmanian Paralympians secure silver and bronze

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Updated September 11, 2016 13:07:15 Rio's Maracana Stadium has proved a happy hunting ground for Tasmania's Paralympians, with Deon Kenzie and Todd Hodgetts both picking up medals on day three of competition. Kenzie, from Penguin, picked up a silver medal in the 1,500-metre T38 track event, finishing behind Tunisia's world champion Abbes Saidi.

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i saw the wheelchair basketball it so cool  aus v nethlands  aus won.

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First Gold for Australia at these games.

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Enabling Cookies in Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome browser

2. Click Tools > Options > Privacy Options > Under the Hood > Content Settings

3. Check Allow local data to be set

4. Uncheck Block third-party cookies from being set

5. Uncheck Clear cookies

6. Close all

Enabling Cookies in Mobile Safari (iPhone, iPad)

1. Go to the Home screen by pressing the Home button or by unlocking your phone/iPad

2. Select the Settings icon.

3. Select Safari from the settings menu.

4. Select 'accept cookies' from the safari menu.

5. Select 'from visited' from the accept cookies menu.

6. Press the home button to return the the iPhone home screen.

7. Select the Safari icon to return to Safari.

8. Before the cookie settings change will take effect, Safari must restart. To restart Safari press and hold the Home button (for around five seconds) until the iPhone/iPad display goes blank and the home screen appears.

9. Select the Safari icon to return to Safari.

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To use this website, cookies must be enabled in your browser. To enable cookies, follow the instructions for your browser below. Facebook App: Open links in External Browser There is a specific issue with the Facebook in-app browser intermittently making requests to websites without cookies that had previously been set.

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I am watching the 400 metre swim come on Australia your second