A man in a wheelchair soared down a six-storey high ramp at high speed as fireworks lit the sky over Rio's Maracana Stadium.
Just like that, Brazil welcomed the world to the first Paralympics in South America in adrenaline-charged fashion, and Australia's team flag bearer Brad Ness expected nothing less.
American extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham flew down the 17m ramp and somersaulted through the air in a display aimed at shaking preconceived ideas about disability, as the Games also aim to do.
"It sends the message that we're no different to anyone else out there," said Ness.
"Anything's possible, you've got no limitations. You've got to think outside the box but you can make it happen."
Ness, a five-time Paralympian and captain of the men's wheelchair basketball team carried the flag for Australia in Wednesday night's (Thursday AEST) opening ceremony.
His contingent of 90 or so rowdy athletes and officials soaked in every moment in a lap around the stadium, with looming early competition ruling out half of Australia's team from marching.
Ness was without his Rollers teammates ahead of their opening match against the Netherlands on day one of competition.
"All the boys are back home, probably tucked up already," he said.
"Hopefully we can make you proud in the next two weeks."
The four-hour extravaganza was low-tech in comparison to London and Beijing and had a fraction of the budget, but no-less delighted the 50,000-strong crowd.
Blinding light, a blackout and 400 illuminated canes combined to simulate the sensory experience of the vision-impaired.
An homage to the invention of the wheel doubled as the Samba circle, a Brazilian musical icon.
A deconstruction of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man shattered ideals of physical perfection.
Nine member contingent from Sri Lanka
The nine-member Sri Lanka Paralympic contingent departed to Rio De Janerio, Brazil and team will be led by Anil Prasanna Jayalath who will compete in the T42 100 and 200 meters and the Long Jump.
He is the holder of the Asia Oceanic and Asian records in these events.
Gamini Ekanayake and Dinesh Priyantha Herath will take part in the F44 Javelin and Sampath Hettiarcahchi will take part in the F46 Javelin Throw.
Ajith Hettiarachchi will line up alongside the captain for the T 44 100 and 200 meters and the 400 meters.
Amara Indumathi will compete in the women’s T47, 200 and 400 metres, and the Long Jump, together with Indika Chuladasa in the T42 100 and 200 meters.
Upali Rajakaruna will represent the country in wheelchair tennis, whilst Sampath Bandara is in for Archery.
More than 4000 athletes in this Paralympics
The ceremony heralded the start of the 11-day event in which athletes from 159 countries, plus two "independent" refugee athletes from Syria and Iran, will compete for 528 gold medals over 23 Paralympic sports.
More than 4,400 athletes will contest the Games, although none from Russia, after the country was slapped with a blanket ban for state-sponsored doping.
Resounding boos greeted Brazil's unelected acting president Michel Temer when he opened the Games, throwing the spotlight on a country battered by recession and political scandal.
However a late surge in ticket sales to 1.7 million suggest Brazilians are now getting behind the cash-strapped event, making Rio the second best-attended Paralympics behind London 2012.
As Rio2016 Olympic organising committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman told the crowd: "When everyone else disbelieves, we Brazilians grow."
