With one year to go to the start of the Rio Paralympics, organizers said that "they expect the Games to break records," according to Elizabeth Hudson of the BBC. The event will run from Sept. 7-18, 2016 and "will feature 4,350 athletes from 178 countries." A total of 3.3M tickets "will go on sale on Monday to Brazilian residents," with 94% of tickets costing less than $23, while organizers hope to surpass the 2.8M tickets which were sold for London 2012. The Games "will feature the biggest number of sports with the inclusion of Para-canoe and Para-triathlon, while the IPC says more broadcasters will be showing the Games than ever before" and they are confident of beating the 3.8 billion who watched the 2012 Games. IPC President Philip Craven believes that "the Games will have an impact" not just in Brazil, where 50 million people have an impairment, but across the whole of South America. Already, Rio "is improving accessibility while in July," Brazil President Dilma Rousseff announced new legislation with the Inclusion of People with Disabilities Act and confirmed additional funding for the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. BPC President Andrew Parsons "also believes the Games can bring huge benefits." Parsons: "I think the Games have to be a catalyst for change but that change is different from the Olympics. When we speak about people with a disability or impairment we're talking about a diversity issue as well because we're trying to change the attitudes towards people with disabilities and who are different. This is something the country needs very much and I think intolerance is everywhere" (BBC, 9/6).
