Banned from Rio, Russia hosts its own Paralympics

World Today

Banned from Rio, Russia hosts its own Paralympics

Russia is holding a two-day contest for its Paralympic team, an opening ceremony to kick start what Moscow calls an alternative to the Paralympic Games in Rio.

CCTV’s Julia Lyubova reports from Moscow.
Follow Julia Lyubova on Twitter @julialyubova

Moscow is launching a series of tournaments for the country’s Paralympic athletes who are banned from the official Games in Brazil.

The competitions will run for two days and 266 athletes will participate. The program consists of 18 sports including athletics, swimming and cycling.

Russia was suspended from the 2016 Rio Paralympics after losing an appeal against a blanket ban over allegations of state-run doping.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Paralympic ban cynical and immoral but also said Moscow acknowledged mistakes it had made in tackling sports doping.