THE 2016 Paralympics began yesterday with Rio’s Maracana stadium again the iconic setting for the opening ceremony of a Games staged against a backdrop of austerity and doping.

    Less than three weeks after the flame was doused on South America’s first Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro welcomes 4,300 Paralympians seeking their own slice of sporting glory.

    Stars include Iranian powerlifter Siamand Rahman, Britain’s wheelchair racer David Weir and China’s blind sprinter Liu Cuiqing.

    Two new events — canoe-kayak and triathlon — make their appearance on the 22-sport menu, with competitors from 161 nations — but not one Russian amongst them.

    Russian para-athletes, who finished second behind China in the London 2012 medals table, were last month barred from the Sept. 7-18 Games by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) following a World Anti-Doping Agency report, which alleged a vast state-sponsored doping program.

    Six countries are sending athletes for the very first time — Aruba, Congo, Malawi, Somalia, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.

    Syrian swimmer Ibrahim Al-Hussein, who lost a leg in an explosion in his nation’s civil war, and Iranian discus thrower Shahrad Nasajpour make up a two-strong refugee team.

    Rio 2016 Paralympic organizers said Monday that 1.5 million tickets had been sold and they hope that all 2.5 million will go.

    China will have a record 308 athletes in Rio looking to beat their 95 gold medals from London when they topped the table for the third straight Paralympics. They have swimmer Xu Qing competing in his fourth and possibly last Games, seeking to add to his seven gold medals.

    His compatriot Liu last year inflicted the first defeat on reigning T11 400m champion Terezinha Guilhermina of Brazil in nine years.

    Liu, 23, won four golds at the world championships, stunning the Brazilian, 13 years her elder, each time.(SD-Agencies)