Watch Behind the Scenes Videos from Samsung Paralympic Bloggers

With the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games officially underway, wanted to share some highlights from this week as athletes arrived at the Athlete’s Village and got settled into their new routine for the next exciting 10 days.

As part of the Samsung Paralympic Blogger program, 30 Paralympians from countries including Brazil, United States of America, Korea, Great Britain, France, Spain, China as well as an athlete from the Independent Paralympic Athletes team received Samsung Galaxy S7 phones and other mobile accessories to capture exclusive, behind-the-scenes 360 blogs that allows them to share their experiences with the world. Through their daily posts, fans will get a firsthand glimpse at Paralympic Games moments that can’t be seen at home, as athletes will share exclusive content captured during training sessions, competition preparation, Opening Ceremony and more.

The Samsung Paralympic Blogger program is an extension of the project which began during the London 2012 Paralympic Games and continued through the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, which was the first time that athletes created vlogs from a major sporting event. The program helps establish a heritage of commitment to Paralympians, while challenging the world to focus on athletes’ ability and engage with their personal stories. This program is part of Samsung’s overall Rio 2016 Paralympic Games campaign which celebrates how meaningful progress comes from daring to defy barriers and seeing ability over disability.

Key highlights from this week include:

Tatyana McFadden (Athletics, USA) shares Team USA preparations for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.

“Team USA is leaving for the Opening Ceremony! So exciting”

Gustavo Fernandez (Wheelchair Tennis, Argentina) at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.

“I have all the family watching me here. After so many years it was so worth it. It’s worth it. It’s very exciting!”

Janet McLachlan (Wheelchair Basketball, Canada) at Team Canada Paralympic Village Welcome Ceremony and Flag Raising Ceremony.

“Today is Canada’s Welcome Ceremony, and it’s something quite especial, especially for those from our team who will be unable to attend the Opening Ceremony”

Teresa Perales (Swimming, Spain) training session with her teammates at the Aquatics Center.

“We have lots and lots of energy and are enjoy the water very much! I hope to see you guys in the next video. We’ll be doing a bit of trouble making. See ya!”

You can watch more videos and follow your favorite athletes by visiting www.youtube.com/Paralympics. For more information about Samsung’s involvement in the Paralympic Games, please visit www.samsungmobilepress.com/Olympics/

The full list of athletes taking part in the Samsung Paralympic Bloggers project includes:

Abdi Jama (Wheelchair basketball, Great Britain)

Alvaro Valera (Table tennis, Spain)

Amalia Perez (Powerlifting, Mexico)

Andre Brasil (Swimming, Brazil)

Arnaud Assoumani (Athletics, France)

Carlos Serrano (Swimming, Colombia)

Chuck Aoki (Wheelchair rugby, USA)

Cuiping Zhang (Shooting, China)

Darwin Castro (Athletics, Ecuador)

David Smith (Boccia, Great Britain)

Fabien Lamirault (Table tennis, France)

Gustavo Fernandez (Wheelchair tennis, Argentina)

Gustavo Sanchez (Swimming, Mexico)

Hannah McFadden (Athletics, USA)

Hwa Sook Lee (Archery, South Korea)

Ibrahim Al-Hussein (Swimming, Independent Paralympic Athletes)

Janet McLachlan (Wheelchair basketball, Canada)

Jinho Park (Shooting, South Korea)

Katie Holloway (Sitting volleyball, USA)

Leinier Savon Pineda (Athletics, Cuba)

Liu Jing (Table tennis, China)

Marie-Amelie Le Fur (Athletics, France)

Michael Jeremiasz (Wheelchair tennis, France)

Natalia Mayara (Wheelchair tennis, Brazil)

Petrucio Ferreira (Athletics, Brazil)

Tatyana McFadden (Athletics, USA)

Teresa Perales (Swimming, Spain)

Terezinha Guilhermina (Athletics, Brazil)

Ye Ruyi (Wheelchair Fencing, China)

Yohansson Nascimento (Athletics, Brazil)