London 2012 Paralympic silver medal-winning judoka Lucia Teixeira, Parapan American Games powerlifting bronze medallist Luciano Bezerra Dantas and sprinter Vinicius Rodrigues became stars in Brazil as a result of the movie, released in September 2015.

By the middle of the month, it had been viewed over 18 million times online, according to Rio 2016.

The two-minute film, entitled "The Mindchanger Workout" which featured the use of hidden cameras, was given a bronze lion for content-led engagement and marketing in the public relations category.

It also received a bronze lion for use of branded content for digital or social media in the media category and was nominated for two other prizes.

The movie itself depicts the three athletes, who enter a gym in Rio unannounced and stun the other members of the facility with their feats and ability.

The video aims to change the perception of disabled athletes as some of the gym’s members were unable to hide their derision towards the trio, which slowly turned to amazement at what the three competitors were capable of.

Ricardo Cirillo, manager of advertising and promotion at Rio 2016, insists their reactions were genuine and that the video was in no way staged.

“They were really surprised,” he said.

“If in the gym it was like that, just imagine the surprises in store for people who attend a Paralympic event in person.”

Teixeira hailed the impact of the short film, claiming it was “greater than all of my sporting results”.

“Before the film was made, almost nobody knew I was an athlete,” she said.

Powerlifter Dantas,  who amazed fellow gym goers in the video by bench pressing more than twice his own body weight, added: “Brazil’s Paralympic athletes won 116 more medals than our Olympic colleagues in Toronto, but when we returned home, almost nobody knew about our conquests.

“Now people stop to greet me in the street, ask for autographs and photos.

“This video showed that if the Paralympic Games get a lot of television coverage, the public will get behind Para-athletes.”

The Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro run from September 7 to 18.