There are only 100 days to go until the start of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the 15th edition of the event and the first to be staged in South America. Records will be smashed, legends will be born and the world will be inspired. And it’s going to be one hell of a party.

Just in case you’ve been asleep for the last few years and haven’t caught the Paralympic bug yet, rio2016.com has compiled a list of reasons why you must tune in, or even come along…

1. The opening ceremony will be at one of the most magical, mythical stadiums the world has known, the Maracanã.
2. Once the Olympic Games have ended and the world has fallen in love with Rio, you won’t want it to end. You won’t have to.
3. When you see how para-athletes make light of their impairments, you will never have an excuse to give up on anything ever again.
4. It's going to be an amazing party.
5. The host nation is a genuine Paralympic power, so we can expect passionate crowds.
6. The new athletics track is built for records to tumble.
7. As is the swimming pool.
8. You need to come to Brazil to complete the sticker album.
9. Tom, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games mascot, is a super-cool little dude,
10. You can support war veterans who have found new meaning and inspiration in sport.
11. It will be the biggest Paralympic Games with with 4,350 athletes competing for 528 medals.
12. In a similar vein, 176 nations will be represented.
13. The athletes will be out to top the 251 world records that were broken at the London 2012 Games.
14. Ticket prices are low, low, low.
15. Triathlon will make its Paralympic Games debut.... in Copacabana!
16. Equestrian will celebrate 20 years in the Paralympic Games.
17. You will be able to see sports that are exclusive to the Paralympic Games, such as goalball and boccia
18. Meanwhile, others of your favourite sports – such as basketball, football and rugby – have been adapted, with thrilling results, for the Paralympic Games
19. Because there are different impairment classifications within the sports you can watch different versions of the same event, for example the 100m sprint.
20. There are 21 venues to explore, many located in some of Rio’s most beautiful locations.
21. You’ll be able to see the emotional family ties that often exist between boccia athletes and their coaching teams.
22. The Games are in Rio, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
23. Football 7-a-side, which has produed some thrilling moments over the years, will make its Paralympic Games farewell as it will not be part of the Tokyo 2020 programme.
24. Before that, Russia and the Netherlands will renew their rivalry in 7-a-side football. Expect some bone-crunching tackles.
25. Speaking of football, the 5-a-side version of the game, played by visually impaired athletes, produces amazing skills and dribbles.
26. The star of the show is likely to be Jefinho, the Paralympic Pele, who will seek to lead Brazil their fourth consecutive gold medal.
27. Jefinho has competition, which can only be good: Wanderson is known as the Robinho of Paralympic football.
28. It’s Brazil, so the star footballers just keep coming: Ricardinho, has already been voted best 5-a-side footballer of the year twice, and will be hoping to shine again on home soil.
29. But the Turks are not afraid.
30. Sailing will also make its Paralympic Games farewell, on the iconic Guanabara Bay.
31. The crowd play their part– in some sports, such as goalball and football-5-s-side, they must remain quiet so as not to distract the players.
32. The draw for goalball created a ‘group of death’, with gold medal contenders Finland, the USA and Lithuania.
33. Finland and Brazil have an intense rivalry in goalball: the Finns beat the Brazilians 8-1 at London 2012, but Brazil triumphed 9-1 over Finland at the 2014 world championship.
34. The inspirational Bosnia and Herzegovina men’s sitting volleyball team, many of whom were injured in the Balkan War, are going for a third gold.
35. The China and USA’s women’s sitting volleyball teams will be hoping to meet in the final for the third consecutive Games.
36. You’ll be blown away by the skills of the wheelchair basketballers.
37. To see if Australia and Canada will meet in the men’s wheelchair basketball final for the fourth consecutive Games.
38. Canoe sprint will make its Paralympic Games debut on the stunning city centre location of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.
39. Table tennis, which has been in the Paralympic Games longer than it’s been in the Olympic Games, produces amazing moments like these…
40. The finalists in the T44 (lower limb impairments) 100m will be aiming to dip below 11 seconds for the first time in history.
41. Johnnie Peacock, whose name was chanted by 80,000 people in the London Olympic Stadium, will be aiming to defend his T44 title.
42. The USA’s Richard Browne, who likes a bit of Carnival, will be out to stop Peacock.
43. Alan Fonteles, who famously stunned the London Olympic Stadium by beating Oscar Pistorius in 2012, will be out to defend his 100m title in the T43 class.
44. Felipe Gomes, a blind sprinter from one of Rio's most notorious communities, is set to be one of the stars of the Games.
45. Daniel Dias, the superstar of Paralympic swimming, will be out to add to his 10 Paralympic Games medals
46. Terezinha Guilhermina, who once employed Usain Bolt as her guide runner, is surely one of the most colourful athletes in the world.
47. Marcus Rehm, AKA the Blade Jumper, could jump further in the long jump than the Olympic champion.
48. Petruccio Ferreira, world record holder in the 200m (T46/47 class) could become Brazil’s biggest Paralympic hero.
49. Blink and you might miss Russian swimmer Oxana Savchenko, the world record holder in the 50m freestyle S12 class.
50. Fellow Russian Darya Stukalova will be out to break the dominance of Savchenko in the Rio pool… could be tasty.
51. Natalia Mayara will be seeking to repeat her two gold medals at the 2015 Parapan-American Games in front of her home fans.
52. The USA’s world champion discus thrower Jeremy Campbell will be going for his fourth gold medal.
53. Campbell’s compatriot David Blair could make sure it’s an all-American throw-off for gold in the F44 class.
54. Did we mention it’s going to be a massive party?
55. Brazilian wheelchair fencer Jovane Guissone, a champion at London 2012, will bring the house down at the Youth Arena if she manages to repeat the feat in Rio.
56. Irish sprinter Jason Smyth, the Usain Bolt of the Paralympic Games, will try to win his sixth gold at Rio 2016.
57. Smith’s compatriot Noelle Lenihan, was only 15 when she broke the F37 discus world record at last year’s world championships in Doha… one year older and one year stronger, who knows what she’ll do in Rio.
58. Victoria Amorim, star of the Brazilian women’s goalball team that won the world title in 2013, will be out for gold on home soil.
59. Lex Gillette, long jump world champion in the F11 class, could well break out into song if he wins his first Paralympic Games gold.
60. Maciel Santos, who first represented Brazil in boccia aged just 14, will be aiming to defend the gold he won London 2012.
61. Santos’s older compatriot Dirceu Pinto is boccia’s top Paralympic medallist with four golds and he’ll be in action in Rio too.
62. Australia’s Isis Holt is the world champion in the 100m and 200m T35, aged just 14.
63. Her main challenger is Great Britain’s Maria Lyle, and the duo are likely to run each other very close in Brazil.
64. Romário Diego Marques has the name of a goal-scorer and he was the second top marksman at the 2014 goalball world championships with 30. Expect a shoot-on-sight policy in Rio.
65. Willians Araújo carries the home nation’s hopes on shoulders in judo, which is hugely popular in Brazil, so it should be nice and rowdy.
66. China’s Cuiqing Liu will be out to ensure home sprint favourite Terezinha Guilhermina doesn’t have it all her own way in Rio’s Olympic Stadium.
67. The ever-smiling Verônica Hipólito, 19-year-old sprinter, is set to be the face of the Games.
68. US T43 sprinter Hunter Woodhall has been pulling up trees at the tender age of 16 and could be another one who sees his name in lights at Rio 2016.
69. Marcos Fernandes Alves, is Brazil’s only Paralympic equestrian medallist with two bronzes. Home support should see him challenge for gold.
70. Chinese long jumper Mingyu Chen is another who seems primed to make a name for herself in Rio.
71. Brazilian swimmer Verônica Almeida won bronzes at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and could take the roof off the aquatics stadium if she finally takes gold in Rio.
72. ‘Hurricane Hannah’ Cockroft, one of the stars of London 2012, will be looking to add to her huge medal haul in a racing wheelchair named after her friend who passed away last year.
73. Cockroft’s biggest rival could be fellow Briton Kare Adenegan, who shone at last year’s world championships at the age of 14.
74. Nyoshia Cain, of Trinidad & Tobago, is another young spinter to watch out for in the T44 category.
75. The USA’s Sam Grewe won high jump gold in the T42 class at the 2015 world championships and will be looking to maintain his dominance of the event in Rio.
76. Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo will be looking to extend his nation’s tradition of producing great wheelchair athletes.
77. Canadian Brent Lakatos won three golds at the world championships, in the 100m, 200m and 800m T53 class, and is sure to be among the contender in Rio.
78. David Weir was one of the stars of London 2012, where he earned the nickname ‘the Weirwolf’ after winning the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and marathon titles in the T54 class – will he bite again in Rio?
79. Ellie Simmonds, the Brit who, at just 13, won two golds in the Paralympic swimming at Beijing 2008 and then two more at London 2012.
80. Amy Marren missed out on a medal at London 2012 but made the world sit up and take notice at just 14 years old.
81. Omara Durand, the Cuban sprinter who recorded 11.65 seconds in the 100m T13 category, becoming a world record holder.
82. Martina Caironi, Italian world record holder in the T42 class of the 100m with a time of 14.61 seconds. She could even improve on this at Rio 2016.
83. American swimmer Jessica Long debuted at the Paralympic Games at 12 years old, winning three golds at Athens 2004. Now 24, this will be her fourth Olympics.
84. Matt Stutzman of the United States was born without arms. This did not stop him from winning silver at London 2012 and subsequently breaking a world record.
85. American Tatyana McFadden is a wheelchair racing phenomenon and plans to claim seven medals in 10 days of athletics.
86. Richard Browne is the record-holder for the 100m T44 category and won silver at London 2012. Now he is in the hunt for gold at Rio 2016.
87. Jarryd Wallace promises to go all out against rival Richard Browne in the 100m.
88. Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug has two silver and two bronze Paralympic medals, and will go after a first gold in Rio.
89. Jamaican Alphonso Cunningham, who was inspired by Usain Bolt, made a drastic change, moving from javelin and discus to the wheelchair racing.
90. Australian Curtis McGrath took up canoeing after losing both his legs while serving in the Australian Army in Afghanistan. He’s now a strong candidate for gold in Rio.
91. Spanish sprinter Teresa Perales has been a regular sight on the podium since Sydney 2000 and is set to bow out after Rio 2016.
92. Anne Dunham, 68, has five Paralympic gold medals and plans to compete once again in the equestrian events at Rio 2016.
93. Eduard Romanov, Russian 7-a-side football ace, who won gold at London 2012.
94. Zahra Nemati became the first Iranian athlete to win a gold medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
95. Mariska Beijer won the most points for Holland not to mention a silver medal at the 2015 European wheelchair basketball championships. This time will it be a gold?
96. German judoka Ramona Brussig, 39, will compete in her fourth Olympic Games. At Athens 2004 and London 2012 she won gold and a claimed a silver in Beijing.
97. Markus Swoboda is one of the biggest favourites in the first edition of canoeing at the Olympic Games. The Austrian has dominated competitions since his international debut in 2010.
98. Sherif Othman of Egypt is the strongest powerlifter out of all the weight categories. He claimed gold at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
99. Ex-Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi lost his legs in an accident but made a comeback competing in road cycling and winning two golds at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
100. If you're still not convinced, just check this out...