What you need to know - The thrill of New Zealand's incredibly successful Olympics campaign may be over, but the sporting competition is set to continue over the coming weeks.
Anna Grimaldi, Danielle Aitchison, William Stedman, Lisa Adams, Holly Robinson and Caitlin Dore, some of the athletes selected to compete in the Paraylmpics in Tokyo. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Thousands of Paralympians are set to descend on the Japanese capital of Tokyo to compete on the world stage.
How many athletes will New Zealand be sending, who are our big medal hopefuls, and where can we watch coverage? RNZ is here to clear it all up.
What are the Paralympics?
The Paralympic Games is the largest international event for disabled athletes. It takes place shortly after every Olympic Games in the same host city. The Paralympic Games are held every two years - alternating between the summer and winter Paralympic Games.
Paralympians have a different governing body to the one that governs Olympians. Whereas Olympians have the International Olympic Commitee (IOC), paralympians have the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Tokyo Games will feature up to 4400 Para athletes across 22 Para sports, with badminton and taekwondo making their Paralympic debut.
When do the Paralympics start?
The Paralympics begin on Tuesday 24 August, with the opening ceremony declaring the official start to the games.
Starting at 8pm (local time), the opening ceremony will be availble to watch at 11pm in New Zealand, thanks to the three-hour time difference.
The sporting events will kick off the following day, and will continue until Sunday 5 September.
A record number of broadcasters will live telecast 21 disciplines from 19 sports, six more than Rio 2016. This means Tokyo 2020 is expected to exceed the cumulative audience of 4.1 billion who watched the 2016 Games.
How can I watch the Paralympics?
TVNZ and Attitude are bringing coverage of the Paralympics.
The two media organisations are the official media partners of Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ). TVNZ and Attitude Pictures collaborated on coverage of Rio 2016, broadcasting to 2.2 million viewers and PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games broadcasting to 1.8 million viewers.
Paralympics New Zealand says there has always been a strong interest in Paralympians in New Zealand, but support from home will be stronger this year, given Covid-19 travel restrictions.
"With no family, friends or fans allowed to travel to Tokyo to watch the Paralympics, there will be unprecedented interest in the TV coverage of Tokyo 2020," it says.
You can catch all the action each day on TVNZ DUKE (Freeview Channel 13 and Sky Channel 23). A 30-minute daily highlights show will air at 9am on TVNZ1. Coverage will also be live-streamed through TVNZ OnDemand, with catch-up viewing of select events available on the platform. 1 NEWS will support the live broadcast with coverage across daily news programming and 1news.co.nz.
Attitude.Live also features documentaries tracking New Zealand Para athletes in the build-up to the games.
How many Kiwis going and who to watch out for
New Zealand has a stellar track record at the Paralympic Games, having won 220 medals in total - 90 gold, 63 silver and 67 bronze.
This time round New Zealand is sending 29 Para athletes and 37 support staff to Tokyo, hoping to increase the medal tally. The Kiwis will be competing in the following events:
Para cycling-track, Wednesday 25 August to Saturday 28 August
Sarah Ellington, Nicole Murray, Rory Mead, and Anna Taylor will be competing in the track events.
This is considered a strong squad, even though all four Para athletes are Paralympic debutants. Sarah Ellington started international Para cycling in 2017 and has so far won three World Championship medals across both track and road events.
Para cycling-road, Tuesday 31 August to Friday 3 September
Stephen Hills, Eltje Malzbender, and Sarah Ellington are competing in the road events.
Sarah Ellington Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Stephen Hills is competing at his second Paralympic Games after making his debut in 2016. He will be joined on the track by Ellington and another debuntant, Eltje Malzbender.
Para Swimming, Wednesday 25 August to Friday 3 September
Sophie Pascoe, Nikita Howarth, Tupou Neiufi and Jesse Reynolds will be competing.
New Zealand's Para athletes are expected to perform strongly here. The country's most decorated Paralympian Sophie Pascoe will lead the medal hunt.
Sophie Pascoe Photo: Photosport
Pascoe already has 15 Paralympic medals to her name and will be hoping to add to that collection in Tokyo. She is supported by Nikita Howarth, competing at her third Paralympic Games after becoming New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympian at the London 2012 Games at the age of just 13.
Pascoe and Howarth will be joined in the pool by Tupou Neiufi and Jesse Reynolds, the pair both competing in their second Paralympic Games.
Para athletics, shot put, Friday 27 August to Sunday 5 September
Lisa Adams, Caitlin Dore, and Ben Tuimaseve will be competing.
This shot put team is powerhouse of competitors.
Lisa Adams is making her Paralympic debut and is coached by her sister, two-time Olympic gold medallist Dame Valerie Adams. She has already broken the world record in shot put four times since she began competing in 2018.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Caitlin Dore is making her second appearance at the Paralympics. In the men's competition, Ben Tuimaseve will be making his Paralympic debut.
Shooting para sport, Monday 30 August to Sunday 5 September
Michael Johnson is competing.
Four-time Paralympian Michael Johnson will become only the second New Zealand Paralympian to represent his country at five Paralympic Games. He will be looking to add to his impressive medal haul, which includes gold and back-to-back bronze medals in 2008 and 2012.
Wheelchair rugby, Wednesday 25 August to Sunday 29 August
The Wheel Blacks will be competing, and the team is made-up of Hayden Barton-Cootes, Cody Everson, Robert Hewitt, Tainafi Lefono, Gareth Lynch, Gavin Rolton and Mike Todd.
Wheel Black Robert Hewitt Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The seven Para athletes will all be making their Paralympic debut. They will be hoping to repeat success at 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, when Team New Zealand took gold. Prior to that, the Wheel Blacks also collected two bronze medals in 1996 and 2000. Their biggest rivals will probably be Australia.
