News Text: Patricia da MattaWith just six months to go before the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the organising commitee is working at full speed to ensure that everything is in place so that the world’s elite para-athletes can shine on the biggest stage Below, Rio 2016 com looks ahead to the major milestones still to come, and looks back at some of what has already been achieved “The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all those who attend and a chance for the whole of South America to unite and celebrate a sporting festival that will transform the continent forever”IPC President Sir Philip CravenTesting, preparing, fine-tuning Swimming, goalball and athletics are the remaining Paralympic sports to have test events before the Games (Photos: Getty Images)Last month’s wheelchair rugby test event won the sport new fans while helping Games organisers to prepare transport operations for athletes with an impairment, test accessibility in venues and fine tune competition management In April and May, another three test events dedicated to Paralympic sports – swimming, goalball and athletics – will contribute to organisers’ and athletes’ preparations for the Games Between 22 and 24 April, the Paralympic Swimming International Open will be held at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium, then from 4 to 5 May, the Aquece Rio International Goalball Tournament will be taking place at the Future Arena  The final competition on the Rio 2016 test event calendar will be the Paralympic Athletics International Open at the Olympic Stadium from 18 to 21 May Following the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games on 21 August, the Rio 2016 organising committee will have to spring straight into action to get everything ready for another 12 days of competitions, starting on 7 September The ‘look’ of the venues and in the rest of the city will change – orange will replace blue, and the Olympic Rings will give way to the Agitos, as the Paralympic Movement’s symbol is known Of the 37 venues used in the Olympic Games, 21 will remain for the Paralympics, receiving the necessary adaptations At the athletes’ village, the deadline is even tighter After the Olympians depart, Rio 2016 will have just four days – from 24 to 28 August – to replenish the stocks and prepare the rooms to host the Paralympic athletes and delegations From rehabilitation to high-peformance, the history of the Paralympic MovementSpreading the messageThe Rio 2016 Paralympic torch has already been unveiled, its design celebrating innovation, diversity and equality: besides reflecting the curves of Rio de Janeiro’s terrain, it displays the Paralympic values in a Braille inscription Brasília, Belém, Natal, São Paulo and Joinville, as well as Rio, are the cities chosen to represent Brazil in the Paralympic Torch Relay, which will take place between 1 and 7 September Unlike the Olympic Torch Relay, each of these five cities – one in each of the five regions of Brazil – will have its own relay More details will be revealed shortly Find out all about the Paralympic torchThrilling ceremoniesUnder the direction of renowned artist Vik Muniz, writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva and designer Fred Gelli, the Rio 2016 Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies will provide some of the most exciting moments of the whole event As well as showcasing Brazil’s culture to the rest of the world, the opening ceremony will present athletes and delegations, and mark the start of competitions, while the closing ceremony will use all the emotions and joy of the Brazilian people to pass on the baton to the Games’ next host city, Tokyo Take a look back at Rio 2016’s presentation at London 2012’s closing ceremony:If you want to see this show from the inside, there’s still time to apply to be part of the cast The second wave of auditions are taking place until 20 March Showtime Th Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the first edition to be staged in South America, will bring together 4,350 athletes from 176 countries in more than 500 medal events in 23 sports – including canoeing and triathlon for the first time Genuine stars such as Richard Browne, Markus Rehm, Jason Smyth, Daniel Dias and Terezinha Guilhermina will put on a show that confirms Paralympic sport is high-performance sport Learn all about the Paralympic GamesBecome a Paralympic Games expert with our sport-by-sport infographicsWho’s coming?Some of the biggest names in Paralympic sport have already spoken of their excitement about the Rio 2016 Games, including Great Britain’s Josie Pearson, Italy’s Alex Zanardi, America’s Josh George and Iran’s Zahra Nemati Legends of Paralympic sports will seek to write new chapters at the Rio 2016 Games (Photos: Getty Images)Football 5-a-side and football 7-a-side are the only sports that already have all their teams determined This means there are tense and busy months ahead for athletes and fans of the 21 disciplines that still have qualification places to be decided Follow the race to qualify for the Paralympic GamesYou have to be thereTicket sales for the Paralympic Games are well underway and are prices are very accessible Even for the most popular sports, such as football 5-a-side, wheelchair basketball and swimming, prices start at R$20 (US$5 30) for finals and R$10 (US$10 60) for other competition stages  Buy tickets for the Paralympic GamesRecapping The best is yet to come, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t already have good stories to tell The launches of the Paralympic logo and torch, the arrival of the mascot, Tom, and the announcement of the first volunteers to be selected have been some of the most exciting moments in the journey to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Triathletes put on a show in Copacabana at the first Paralympic test event, a great sports and cultural festival was held in Lagoa, and a surprising video touched people around the world The Rio 2016 Paralympic logo launch:Rio 2016 Paralympic Games mascot Tom is born:The video that challenged preconceptions:Paralympic test events