Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

sent a delegation to compete at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, 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.

Background

Cape Verde's first appearance in the Paralympic movement was at the 2004 Athens Summer Paralympics. The country has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since, making Rio de Janeiro the fourth time they have taken part in a Summer Paralympiad. Entering the Rio Summer Games, Cape Verde had not won its first medal at the Paralympics. The 2016 Summer Paralympics were held from 7–18 September 2016 with a total of 4,328 athletes representing 159

National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...

s taking part. Cape Verde sent two athletes to Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Gracelino Barbosa and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

er Márcio Fernandes. The two athletes were joined by

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

and president of the Comité Caboverdeano Desp. Para Deficientes Rodrigo Bejarano, coaches Carlos Fernandes and Serafim Gadelho and an unnamed physiotherapist. The delegation left Cape Verde for Rio de Janeiro on 28 August. Fernandes was selected as the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories;

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness;

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

;

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

;

Les autres Les Autres sport classification is system used in disability sport for people with locomotor disabilities not included in other classification systems for people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this system is to facilitate fair competiti ...

, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. Each

Paralympic sport The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

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 Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, 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.

Medalists

Cape Verde finished tied for twelfth among African countries for total gold medals and tied for 76th overall, winning one bronze.

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

also won a single bronze medal. , width="78%" align="left" valign="top" ,

Athletics

Gracelino Barbosa was 31 years old at the time of the Rio Summer Games and this was his first time competing in the Paralympic movement. He has an intellectual disability and is classified as T20. Barbosa qualified for the Games because of his sixth-place finish and

personal best A personal record or personal best (abbreviated to PR or PB) is an individual's best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightlift ...

time of 50.55 seconds in the men's 400 metres event at the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

in October that year. Barbosa spent time in Portugal and Cape Verde training for the Games. In an interview before the Paralympics, he stated that his hope was to achieve a good performance in Rio de Janeiro and was confident over improving his personal best time, "Any athlete has the ambition to get on the podium and I do not escape the rule and I want to get there very strong." On 8 September, Barbosa participated in the heats of the men's 400 metres T20 competition. Assigned to heat one, he posted a new African record time of 48.77 seconds, ranking him second out of six finishing sprinters. Barbosa advanced to the final along with the seven other quickest athletes because his time was third fastest overall. During the next day's final, he finished third, and improved the African record time of 48.55 seconds, winning him the bronze medal and Cape Verde's first medal in Paralympic competition. Barbosa was congratulated by

Jorge Carlos Fonseca Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca (; born 20 October 1950)
is a

, the president of Cape Verde, via telephone, and the athlete spoke of his desire to inspire more people in Cape Verde to take up sports. At the age of ten in 1994, Márcio Fernandes was involved in a car accident which resulted in the amputation of his left leg and has used a prosthetic since. He was participating in his second Paralympic Games after representing Cape Verde at the 2012 London Paralympics and he was 33 years old at the time of the Rio Summer Paralympic Games. Fernandes was placed into the disability classification T44. He earned automatic qualification to the Rio Games because his throw of 50.91 metres, achieved at the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

on 15 September 2015, exceeded the "A" qualifying standard for the F44 men's javelin event by 2.91 metres. Fernandes spent time training in London, Portugal and Cape Verde as part of his preparation for the Paralympics. Before the Paralympics, he said he believed in his potential and stated he would perform to the best of his ability, "Expectations are high, I was world champion last year and it's normal for people to want to repeat every success. I will do my best, compete with maximum strength and fight to be on the podium, but everything will depend on the conditioners and other opponents. I will give my 200% and soon you will see the results." Fernandes competed in the men's F44 men's javelin on 9 September. On his first try, he achieved a throw of 50.46 metres, 51.37 metres on his second attempt, and his third (and best) was 51.67 metres. This placed Fernandes ninth out of sixteen athletes. ;Men's Track ;Men's Field

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Portal bar, Africa, Sports Nations at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in Cape Verdean sport