Seychelles at the 2016 Summer Paralympics | |
---|---|
IPC code | SEY |
NPC | Paralympic Association of Seychelles |
in Rio de Janeiro | |
Competitors | 1 in 1 sports |
Flag bearer | Cyril Charles |
Medals |
|
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview) | |
Seychelles sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the second time that the country took part in the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut twenty-four years prior at the 1992 Summer Paralympics and established a new National Paralympic Committee with assistance from UK Sport. Discus thrower Cyril Charles was the only competitor that the nation sent to Rio de Janeiro. In his event, the men's Javelin F56–57, he ranked fourteenth and last out of all the competing athletes with a personal best throw of 16.97 metres.
Seychelles made its Paralympic debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain. [1] Following these Games, they would be absent from the Paralympics for twenty-four years until the country received assistance from UK Sport in trying to establish a new National Paralympic Committee (NPC) in 2013 with a meeting held between NPC Rwanda President Dominique Bizimana and UK Sport Senior Adviser Elias Musangeya met with Seychelles' Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton to discuss the feasibility of this. [1] The Paralympic Association of Seychelles was formally established on 13 July 2013 and it became affiliated with the International Paralympic Committee. [2] These Rio de Janeiro Paralympics were Seychelles' second appearance at a Summer Paralympiad. [3] The 2016 Summer Paralympics were held from 7–18 September 2016 with a total of 4,328 athletes representing 159 NPCs taking part. [4] The country sent one competitor to Rio de Janeiro, javelin thrower Cyril Charles. [5] He was accompanied by coach Vincent Cedras and doctor Lucia Banane and they received sponsorship from Barclays Bank Seychelles to pay for their expenditure for the Games. [6] Charles was chosen to be the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony. [7]
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. [8] [9] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability. [10]
Seychelles was assigned one wild card spot for a competitor in athletics. [11] Cyril Charles was 53 years old at the time of the Rio Summer Paralympic Games and he was competing in the Paralympics for the second time after representing Seychcelles at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. [12] [13] His left leg was amputated below the knee because of a grenade explosion while serving in the Seychelles People's Defence Force in August 1980. [14] Charles competes in a wheelchair and is classified as F57. [14] He trained with coach Vincent Cedras and the national team coach as part of his preparation for the Paralympics. [11] Cedras said that the possibility of Charles winning a medal was unrealistic due to a lack of intensive training, "We will be facing people who live and breathe javelin, the best from across the world but you never know in sports what can happen. We might get lucky." [11] He competed in the men's javelin F56–57 competition on 12 September. [13] Charles ranked fourteenth and last out of all the competing athletes with a personal best throw of 16.97 metres. [12] He said afterwards that he was not satisfied with his performance due to the equipment he used during his training which he deemed inadequate. [12]
Athlete | Events | Result | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
Cyril Charles | Javelin F56–57 | 16.97 | 14 [12] [13] |
The Seychelles made their Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, with just two representatives. Cyrl Charles competed in swimming, while Elvis Victor entered the shot put. Neither man won a medal. Cyrl Charles also competed in 2016, aged 53.
Colombia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Portugal competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Chinese Taipei competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Macedonia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Bulgaria competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Tonga competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Somalia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 7 to 18 September 2016. The country's participation in Rio marked its debut appearance in the quadrennial event, although it had competed in the Summer Olympics nine times since the 1972 Games. The delegation consisted of a single middle-distance runner, Farhan Adawe, who qualified for the Games by meeting qualification standards in March 2016. He was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony and came ninth overall in his event, the men's 100 metres (T52), which led to his elimination from the Paralympics.
Sierra Leone sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the nation's third time competing at the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut twenty years prior at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. The delegation consisted of a single athlete, table tennis player George Wyndham, who lost both of his preliminary round matches to Zhang Yan of China and Thailand's Wanchai Chaiwut in the men's singles class 4 tournament and advanced no further in the competition.
Senegal sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the fourth successive appearance for the nation in a Summer Paralympic Games after it debuted at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Youssouphua Diouf, a javelin thrower, and shot put and discus thrower Daque Diop were the two athletes sent to Rio de Janeiro by Senegal. The delegation failed to win the country's first medal at the Summer Paralympics as its best performance in these Games was Diouf's seventh position in the men's javelin F56-57 event.
Madagascar sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the island country's fourth appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games since it made its debut sixteen years prior at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. Sprinter Revelinot Raherinandrasana was the sole athlete to represent the nation in Rio de Janeiro. In his event, the men's 1500 metres T45–T46, he finished tenth and last out of all the finishing athletes with a time of 4 minutes and 38.60 seconds.
Lesotho sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the fifth time the country competed in the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut sixteen years prior at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. The delegation to Rio de Janeiro consisted of two athletes: sprinter Sello Mothebe and discus thrower Litsitso Khotele. Mothebe originally came third in the heats of the men's 200 metres T12 and the men's 400 metres T12 events but he was retroactively disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance. Khotele ranked tenth in the women's discus throw F43–44 competition with a throw of 19.91 metres.
Gabon sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's third appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games, following their two previous participations at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Gabon sent a sole athlete to represent them at Rio de Janeiro, wheelchair racer Edmond Ngombi. He did not advance from his heat in the men's 100 metres T54 event as he came sixth out of seven competitors and attributed the result to a handlebar problem.
The Republic of the Congo competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country made its debut appearance in the Paralympics at Rio, though they had participated in eleven Summer Olympics prior to the opening of the 2016 Paralympics. They sent a single competitor, track and field athlete Bardy Bouesso. Bouesso was the flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
Cape Verde sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the nations' fourth appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games since it made its debut at the 2004 Athens Summer Paralympics. Cape Verde was represented by two athletes in Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Gracelino Barbosa and javelin thrower Márcio Fernandes, who qualified for the Games by meeting the qualification standards of their events. Barbosa won the country's first Paralympic medal with his third-place finish in the men's 400 metres T20 competition and Fernandes came ninth in the F44 men's javelin event.
Panama sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's seventh time competing in the Summer Paralympic Games after it first entered the movement at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. The Panamanian delegation to Rio de Janeiro consisted of two athletes: shot put thrower Francisco Cedeño Almengor and javelin thrower Iveth Valdes Romero. Almengor ranked eleventh out of twelve athletes in the men's shot put F54–55 competition and Romero placed in the same position in the women's javelin F55–F56 event.
Afghanistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's fifth time taking part in a Summer Paralympic Games. The Afghan delegation consisted of a single athlete, Mohammad Durani, who competed in the javelin throw. Originally he finished 16th in his event, but he was retroactively disqualified for a doping violation.
Tajikistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the fourth consecutive appearance of the country at the Paralympic Games after it made its debut twelve years prior at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Tajikistan was represented by a single athlete in Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Romikhudo Dodikhudoev. He finished 14th overall in both of the men's 400 metres T47 and the men's 100 metres T47 and these performances meant he did not qualify for the final of both competitions.
Palestine sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the fifth time they had taken part in a Paralympic Games after its debut sixteen years prior at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. Palestine sent one athlete to Rio de Janeiro shot put thrower Husam Azzam, who was the flag bearer for Palestine at the parade of nations during the opening ceremony. He did not win his third Paralympic medal because he ranked eighth out of ten athletes with a throw of 6.34 metres in the men's shot put F53 competition.
Moldova sent a delegation to participate at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the Eastern European's country sixth appearance in the Summer Paralympic Games since their debut twenty years prior at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. Moldova sent three athletes to these Games, shot put thrower Oxana Spataur, powerlifter Larisa Marinenkova and short-distance swimmer Alexandr Covaliov. Spataur qualified on merit and Covaliov and Marienkova were invited by the Bipartite Commission. Neither Spataur or Covaliov advanced out of the heats of their events and Marienkova finished seventh in the women's 73kg powerlifting category.