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Sport

07th Sep 2015

Brilliant Rio 2016 video challenges preconceptions about disabled people

Superhuman...

Nooruddean Choudry

Never a judge a book by its cover. Or a person by their disability.

It barely seems like a few months since London hosted the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, but we’re now less than a year away from Rio 2016.

The Paralympics in particular is growing in support and interest at a rapid rate, as more and more people realise just how superhuman the endeavours of the participants are.

Ahead of next year’s events, the organisers behind Rio 2016 have produced a fantastic video that asks us to challenge our own preconceptions of others, and marvel at the physical prowess of disabled athletes.

Paralympians Luciano Dantes, Vinicius Rodrigues and Lucia Teixeira star as undercover members of the public visiting the gym, and are initially greeted with looks of condescension and even pity.

But by the time they have exhibited their immense physical and technical skills, there is nothing but awe. The video is brilliant and we can’t wait for the both the Paralympics and Olympics next year…