page_title: 2016 Summer Paralympics
section_title: Death of road cyclist
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 Summer Paralympics / Concerns and controversies / Death of road cyclist
caption_attribution_description: English: Bahman Golbarnezhad, Iranian cyclist (1968-2016)
context_page_description: The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The Games marked the first time a Latin American and South American city hosted the event, the second Southern Hemisphere city and nation, the first one being the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and also the first time a Lusophone country hosted the event. These Games saw the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic program: canoeing and the paratriathlon.
  The lead-up to these Paralympics were met with financial shortcomings attributed to tepid sponsor interest and ticket sales, which resulted in cuts to volunteer staffing and transport, the re-location of events and the partial deconstruction of the Deodoro venue cluster. However, ticket sales began to increase as the Games drew nearer, and over 2 million tickets were sold in total—overtaking Beijing 2008 as the second-most-attended Paralympic Games on record.
context_section_description: On 17 September 2016, during the men's C4-5 road cycling event, Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnejhad crashed on a "mountainous stretch" of the circuit in Grumari; after being treated on site for head injuries, he suffered a cardiac arrest during ambulance transport. Golbarnejhad died at Unimed Rio hospital after another cardiac arrest. This marked the first instance of a death in Paralympic competition, and the first death in an Olympic or Paralympic competition since that of Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen at a time trial in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
  The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that it would investigate the incident, and the I. R. Iran National Paralympic Committee requested a report on the incident from the IPC. IPC president Philip Craven expressed condolences for Golbarnezhad, stating that "the Paralympic Family is united in grief at this horrendous tragedy which casts a shadow over what have been great Paralympic Games here in Rio."
  The Iranian and Paralympic flags in the athletes' village were flown at half-mast, as well as the Paralympic flag at Riocentro. A moment of silence was observed during the closing ceremony.
caption: Bahman Golbarnezhad, hours before death
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