The lead-up to these Paralympics were met with financial shortcomings attributed to tepid sponsor interest and ticket sales, which resulted in cuts to volunteer staffing and transport, the re-location of events and the partial deconstruction of the Deodoro venue cluster.

[2] Following the third and final round of voting at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen on 2 October 2009, the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

Parsons praised how well-organized the 2012 Summer Paralympics were, and felt that his team had learned lessons from London that could be applied in Rio.

They are accompanied by a wooden carrying box, and a plush toy of Paralympic mascot Tom with hair leaves that match the medal's color.

"[15][11] The low cost of tickets helped to attract attendees to the Paralympics—especially families, while athletes praised the large and energetic crowds that resulted.

[21] The official mascots of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled on 24 November 2014, with their respective names, Vinicius and Tom, chosen via a public vote whose results were announced on 14 December 2014.

[25][26][27] The opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Paralympics took place on the evening of 7 September 2016 at Maracanã Stadium, which was also Brazilian Independence Day.

[29] During the parade of nations, a Belarusian official carried a Russian flag alongside his delegation as solidarity towards the IPC's decision to ban Russia from the Games.

[28] In the wake of ongoing protests over political instability in Brazil, spectators also booed organizing committee head Carlos Arthur Nuzman after he thanked local governments for their role in organizing the Games, and President Michel Temer whilst he opened the Games, in response to the recent impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff.

Aruba, Congo, Malawi, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, and Togo made their debut in the Summer Paralympics.

[34] The IPC unanimously voted to ban Russian athletes from the 2016 Summer Paralympics in response to the discovery of a state-sponsored doping program.

[37] On 26 August 2016, the IPC announced the two members of the refugee team: swimmer Ibrahim Al Hussein of Syria (50 and 100 metre Freestyle S10), and Shahrad Nasajpour of Iran (F37 Discus).

The cultural program of the ceremony was a concert featuring performances by an array of mainstream Brazilian musicians, headlined by Ivete Sangalo and Gaby Amarantos.

It also featured a cultural presentation by Tokyo, host of the 2020 Summer Paralympics[67] IPC president Philip Craven led a moment of silence for Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad (who was killed the day before in a road cycling accident), stating that his death had "affected us all and left the whole Paralympic Movement united in grief.

NBC planned extensive coverage for both games, capitalizing on its newly acquired status of an official Paralympic broadcaster in the United States.

[89] The budget of the 2016 Summer Paralympics faced several rounds of cuts, although the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee did not provide specific details on the deficits.

[90][91] In mid-August 2016, it was reported that the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee had failed to timely deliver US$8 million in travel grants that were intended to be paid out at the end of July.

[92] On 15 August 2016, a spokesperson for the organizing committee credited the financial issues to the political climate making it harder to reach sponsorship deals, as well as ticket sales being below expectations.

[91] IPC president Philip Craven stated that "although the situation is pretty precarious, rumours that the Games may not go ahead or that sports may be cut are totally unfounded and not true.

Our aim right now is to bring in additional funding and resources in order to deliver the Games at the service levels expected by all stakeholders, most importantly the athletes", and "if no more funding is available then the Organising Committee's additional cuts will start to impact on the services offered to the athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to reach and compete at these Games.

"[93] On 19 August 2016, the IPC stated that the organising committee had made infrastructural reductions for the Games as a budgetary measure, including reducing the amount of transport services and the number of media centres, moving the wheelchair fencing events from Youth Arena to Carioca Arena 3, as well as closing and dismantling Deodoro Olympic Park so that the remaining venues in the cluster can act as "three standalone venues with dedicated transport hubs.

We are problem solvers by nature and fight for what we believe in", and iterated that he was "fully confident Rio 2016 will be the best Games ever in terms of athletic performance.

[14] On 17 September 2016, during the men's C4-5 road cycling event, Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnejhad crashed on a "mountainous stretch" of the circuit in Grumari; after being treated on site for head injuries, he experienced cardiac arrest during ambulance transport.