Five years to the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games™! On 7th September, 2016, millions of athletes will be at Maracanã to celebrate an unforgettable moment that will be watched by billions in the entire world.

To highlight this moment, the President of the Rio 2016™ Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, will receive public school students from 12 to 18 years old that practice sports and will make a presentation of the Rio 2016™ Paralympic Project. The event will take place at the auditorium of Brazilian Olympic Committee.

The guests will also get to know the stories of great Brazilian champions who inspire all of us with their trajectories in sport and life. The event will be attended by: André Brasil, four times gold medalist in Swimming in Beijing 2008; Roseane Ferreira dos Santos, known as Rosinha, twice Paralympic champion in Athletics in Sydney 2000; and Yohansson do Nascimento Ferreira, world champion in Athletics.

The journalist Flávia Cintra will lead the conversation with athletes. Flávia is a wheelchair user and got quadriplegic at the age of eighteen, after she has suffered a car accident. The reporter was the inspiration for Manoel Carlos to create Luciana, character interpreted by Aline Moraes in the soap opera called Viver a Vida (Living the life).

The date marks the International Paralympic Day’s eve, celebrated this year with My Paralympic picture cultural contest. Send photos that express what the Paralympic Movement means to you! You can send images of athletes and competitions. Entries will be accepted till 30 September and, as of 5 October, your photo can be on our website as one of the finalists. The result will be published on 7 November. The winning photos will be on our home page during a week, making part of this historical moment of the Paralympic Games. Take part!