Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland

At a meeting in Guangzhou, China, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board has voted to increase the number of sports at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games to 22 with the addition of para-canoe and par-triathlon to the existing Sports Programme.

In July this year seven sports submitted applications to the IPC to be included in the Summer Games programme.  All applications, together with the 20 existing sports, were reviewed and evaluated by the IPC and a recommendation presented to the Governing Board to make their decision.

After a discussion about each application, the IPC Governing Board took part in a series of votes.

The first vote found the Governing Board unanimously in favour of maintaining all 20 existing sports in the Rio 2016 Programme.

A second vote saw the group then decide to increase the number of sports in 2016 - seven were in favour and three against.

The Board were then invited to vote on the recommendations provided to them by the IPC Management Team that only para-canoe and para-triathlon should be considered for inclusion in a expanded Sports Programme.  The Board found in favour by six to four.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the IPC said: “I would like to thank all seven sports for submitting applications to the IPC to be included in the summer Sports Programme. All sports, including those involved in the current Programme, were assessed against the same criteria during a lengthy process which started in the second half of 2009.  Congratulations must go to para-canoe and para=triathlon who have been admitted to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games programme alongside our 20 existing sports. We look forward to working with them over the coming years to manage their smooth transition into the Sports Programme in time for 2016.”

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place between 7-18 September 2016.

Info Source: Paralympic Council of Ireland - www.pcireland.ie