(ATR) International Paralympic Committee Powerlifting Technical Delegate Jon Amos says having a test event for the sport will benefit it at every future Paralympics.
Powerlifting held their first ever test event on Jan. 21-23 in Rio de Janeiro an IPC World Cup event. The IPC was in charge of organization, which served as a Rio 2016 qualifier for athletes in the Americas region.
This was the second Paralympic specific test event for the 2016 Games. Four more are planned for the next five months.
"We’ve never had this privilege before," Amos told reporters at the event. "The good thing now it means that every other Paralympics we will have to follow this protocol, and if we are going to have any challenges best we face them here. When we go to Rio it will be perfect."
The sport is testing the field of play in Carioca Arena 1 despite being housed in Riocentro Convention Center for the 2016 Paralympics. IPC and Rio 2016 officials are not worried about the location of the event saying they will successfully recreate the exact venue from the World Cup in Riocentro.
"The sport equipment we are using here is the same we will use during Games time and will be kept with the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, so we are very happy to host this here in Carioca Arena 1," Rodrigo Garcia, Rio 2016 Sporting Director, said to ATR.
"This is the first world cup of powerlifting in Brazil. To have the sport specific volunteers working with us, the sport equipment is important to test."
Amos said that the timing mechanisms, platform structure, logistics, and field of play were among the operations tested from the event.
"We’re trying some new things here and at the moment they are challenging us a bit," Amos added. "If they work well it will be good for Rio, but if they don’t work well we go back to the old way."
Athletes, for their part, were excited to earn a chance to qualify for Rio 2016 closer to home rather than having to travel to the final Powerlifting events before the Games in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
"I think I'm already in the Games and that makes me very happy," Juan Carlos Garrido, a powerlifter from Chile, said to reporters.
"Being in the city of the Games makes me very happy and I hope at the Games I can win a Paralympic medal. It is my dream and we got here with everything."
Click here to view a photo gallery of the event.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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