Paralympic Games opened, judo tournament from the first day

The Maracana stadium hosted a spectacular Opening Ceremony for the Paralympics on Wednesday. From Thursday the Judo tournament is taking place in Carioca 3. At the opening ceremony not too many judoka as a lot have to fight at the first day of the Paralympics.

Azeri Paralympic judo legend Ilham Zakiyev, carried the flag for his country. There were plenty more bold colours inside the stadium where thousands of locals were among the spectators. There were more Brazilians compared to the Olympic Opening ceremony, as the ticket prices were more affordable for the Brazilian market than.

The atmosphere seemed familiar for a lot of Latin Americans inside the stadium. The arrival of the teams from Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Colombia drew some of the loudest cheers from the crowd.

The judo tournament is under the flag of IBSA, the International Blind Sports Association, so the judoka are visual impaired. The judo tournament will take place in three days time.

About 4,350 of the Para athletes across 160 teams whose faces were printed on a giant puzzle piece. The jigsaw puzzle – formed of people from various impairments from around the world – all have come together to do something extraordinary in these upcoming days.

Follow the judo tournament with LIVE reports.