Paralympics entertain bigger-than-expected crowds in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO — Three weeks ago, organizers and event fans were worried that the 2016 Paralympics would not be well-attended. But when São Paulo resident Marco Fumis arrived at a lively Olympic Park on Saturday, he was blown away with what he saw.
“I’m positively surprised by this,” said Fumis. “We are really emotional people, and I think we realized how important it is for not only the Olympics but the Paralympics. A lot of us are here to better understand how these athletes do what they do, so we’re here to support.”
The fan support is significant. The 170,000 tickets sold for events at Olympic Park on Saturday, surpassed the one-day total for some days at recent Olympics.
“It was a really, really cool environment because usually we have like five people in the stands and now we have an entire gym,” U.S women’s sitting volleyball player Heather Erickson said after her team swept Iran 3-0.