IPC publishes Rio 2016 Qualification Guide and launches new website

The Qualification Guide provides full details of how athletes and teams can qualify for the event which will take place from 7-18 September 2016, and will feature nearly 4,350 athletes from more than 160 countries competing in 528 medal events.

Approximately 1,690 of the athlete participants are expected to be women - a 9.9 per cent increase from London 2012 and more than double the 790 who took part in the Atlanta 1996 Games. They will compete in 226 medal events, equating to 43 per cent of the total number of medal events.

Triathlon and canoe will make their Paralympic Games debuts in Rio, with each sport staging six medal events.

The Rio 2016 qualification period began on 1 January 2014 and sport entries must be submitted for the Games by 15 August 2016.

Qualification criteria for 18 of the 22 sports are included in the guide thus far, with the qualification criteria for the four remaining sports - canoe, cycling, judo and sailing - expected to be uploaded by the end of the month to the IPC's new Rio 2016 microsite.

Some of the sports on the programme will also offer bipartite invitation commission slots, which are opportunities offered on a discretionary basis by the IPC and the respective International Federation (IF) to athletes, who have not had the chance to meet the qualification criteria due to extraordinary circumstances.

Universality wildcards may also be offered to athletes from National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) that have been unable to qualify any athletes for the Games.

In addition to the Rio 2016 Qualification Guide, the new www.paralympic.org/rio-2016 also includes the latest news and photos, athlete biographies and Ones to Watch list leading up to Rio 2016.

IPC Press Release