RIO said farewell to the 2016 Paralympics in a closing ceremony showcasing Brazil’s passion for music and celebrating what many consider to have been a surprisingly successful Games.

    Once more, it was China that dominated overall, with 239 medals, including 107 golds — far ahead of nearest rival Britain with 147 total and 64 golds. Ukraine with 117 medals and the United States with 115 followed.

    The big country missing in the top section of the standings, however, was Russia, which during the London Games won 102 medals, including 36 golds.

    The famous Maracana stadium was packed, with the Paralympians themselves seated across the field, as proceedings kicked off with fireworks.

    Among the first performers was Jonathan Bastos, a Brazilian who was born without arms but has became an accomplished musician, playing the guitar with his feet. Then it was Ricardinho, star of Brazil’s gold medal winning Paralympic soccer team, who brought out the national flag.

    Overall, organizers are breathing a sigh of relief that predictions of failure for South America’s first Olympics and Paralympics were proved wrong.

    “Mission accomplished,” said Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio organizing committee.

    Referring to the political instability and deep recession plaguing Brazil, he conceded that it had been “a mission of many doubts.”

    As Craven declared the Games over, he said Brazil had passed a difficult test.

    The positive ending was quite the turnaround from a few weeks ago when the Rio organizers’ woeful finances in the wake of the August Olympics and a stunning lack of interest in tickets raised fears of failure.

    By the end, officials said, they had sold 2.1 million tickets — fewer than London in 2012 but more than Beijing four years earlier. (SD-Agencies)