IPC president Sir Philip Craven has praised Brazil's National Paralympic Centre ©IPC

Brazil has announced that its under construction National Paralympic Centre is nearing completion.

The facility in Sao Paulo will be one of the main legacies of next summer's Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, it is hoped, and will be the largest single-venue complex of its kind in the world.

It is now 97 per cent complete, according to the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), with the building set to offer facilities for 15 different sports under the same roof.

There will be space for up to 300 people and the aim is for it to become a focal point for Para-sport across the whole of the Americas and not just Brazil.

“The centre will host high-performance athletes alongside promising youngsters, who will be inspired to reach the top level,” said Andrew Parsons, President of the CPB and Vice-President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

“There will also be activities for wider society.

"It is very important for children with some kind of disability to have time in their lives for active pastimes, to be inspired, to have options.

Ten-times Paralympic swimming gold medal winner Daniel Dias has hailed the new centre
Ten-times Paralympic swimming gold medal winner Daniel Dias has hailed the new centre ©Getty Images

“There are 25 to 30 million people in Brazil with some type of impairment, depending on how you define impairment.

"Our aim is that those who can do some kind of organised physical activity, will be able to do so.”

The centre was recently hailed by IPC president Sir Philip Craven who was visiting Sao Paulo.

It has been funded by the Brazilian federal and Sao Paulo state governments with athletics, wheelchair basketball, swimming, wheelchair fencing, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, goalball, boccia, powerlifting, judo, wheelchair rugby, table tennis, wheelchair tennis, triathlon and sitting volleyball the sports on offer.

Brazil, who topped the medals table at August’s Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, will finalise their preparations for the 2016 Paralympics at the facility.

Swimmer Daniel Dias, who has won ten Paralympic gold medals for Brazil, said: "This is the realisation of a dream.

“It will confirm and secure this golden era of Paralympic sport in Brazil.”



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