Honduras at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

{{infobox country at games

| NPC = HON

| NPCname = Honduran Paralympic Committee

| games = Summer Paralympics

| year = 2016

| flagcaption =

| oldcode =

| website =

| location = Rio de Janeiro

| competitors = 2

| sports = 2

| flagbearer =Emmanuel Díaz

| rank =

| gold = 0

| silver = 0

| bronze = 0

| officials =

| appearances = auto

| app_begin_year = 1996

| app_end_year =

| summerappearances =

| winterappearances =

| seealso =

}}

Honduras sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's sixth appearance at a Summer Paralympiad after it debuted at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. The Honduran delegation to Rio de Janeiro consisted of two athletes: powerlifter Gabriel Zelaya Díaz and short-distance swimmer Emmanuel Díaz. Both competitors were not ranked in their respective competitions after Gabriel Zelaya Díaz was unable to lift any weights in his three tries and Emmanuel Díaz was two minutes late arriving to his event.

Background

Honduras debuted at the Paralympic Games at the 1996 Summer Paralympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/hira/web/country/honduras|title=Honduras at the Paralympic Games|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181011074240/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/hira/web/country/honduras|archive-date=11 October 2018|url-status=live|access-date=10 October 2018}} The country has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since, making Rio de Janeiro the sixth time they have taken part in a Summer Paralympiad. At the close of the Rio Paralympics, Honduras had not won its first medal at the Paralympics. The 2016 Summer Paralympics were held from 7–18 September 2016 with a total of 4,328 athletes representing 159 National Paralympic Committees taking part.{{cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/rio-2016|title=Rio 2016|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720033214/https://www.paralympic.org/rio-2016|archive-date=20 July 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} Honduras sent two athletes to compete at the Rio Paralympics, powerlifter Gabriel Zelaya Díaz and Emmanuel Díaz, a short-distance swimmer.{{cite web|title=Honduras presente en los juegos paralímpicos de Rio 2016|url=http://buenasnoticias.hn/2016/09/08/honduras-presente-en-los-juegos-paralimpicos-de-rio-2016/|publisher=Buenas Noticias de Honduras|language=es|date=8 September 2016|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909232548/http://buenasnoticias.hn/2016/09/08/honduras-presente-en-los-juegos-paralimpicos-de-rio-2016/|archive-date=9 September 2016|df=dmy-all}} Emmanuel Díaz was selected to be the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony.{{cite news|title=Atleta paralímpico hondureño sueña con triunfar en la piscina donde nadó Michael Phelps|url=http://www.diariomas.hn/2016/09/08/atleta-paralimpico-hondureno-suena-triunfar-la-piscina-donde-nado-michael-phelps/|newspaper=Diario Deportivo Más|language=es|date=8 September 2016|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114075236/http://www.diariomas.hn/2016/09/08/atleta-paralimpico-hondureno-suena-triunfar-la-piscina-donde-nado-michael-phelps/|archive-date=14 November 2016|df=dmy-all}}

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2354016.htm?site=paralympics/2008|title=Paralympics categories explained|last=McGarry|first=Andrew|date=3 September 2008|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912225056/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2354016.htm?site=paralympics%2F2008|archive-date=12 September 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=25 December 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/paralympics/959701.stm|title=Making sense of the categories|date=6 October 2000|access-date=25 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528052125/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/paralympics/959701.stm|archive-date=28 May 2008|url-status=live|publisher=BBC Sport}} Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7586684.stm|title=A-Z of Paralympic classification|date=28 August 2008|access-date=25 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301172843/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7586684.stm|archive-date=1 March 2009|url-status=live|publisher=BBC Sport}}

Powerlifting

Gabriel Zelaya Díaz was paralyzed as a consequence of being shot in the vertebral column and in the leg on 16 May 2004.{{cite news|last=Martinez|first=Renan|title=Para compartir esta nota utiliza losnsa íconos que aparecen en el sitio|url=https://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/apertura/329678-98/gabriel-el-campe%C3%B3n-que-anda-en-silla-de-ruedas|newspaper=La Prensa|date=15 August 2013|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010183057/https://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/apertura/329678-98/gabriel-el-campe%C3%B3n-que-anda-en-silla-de-ruedas|archive-date=10 October 2018|df=dmy-all}} He was 40 years old at the time of the Rio Paralympic Games and had limited experience competing in international powerlifting events. Zelaya Díaz qualified for the Games by receiving an invitation from the Bipartite Commission and partook in the men's −72 kg competition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160523070735592_Rio%2BQG_23_May_2016.pdf|title=Rio 2016 Paralympic Games – Qualification Guide|date=May 2016|publisher=International Olympic Committee|access-date=26 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510114849/https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160523070735592_Rio+QG_23_May_2016.pdf|archive-date=10 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|title=Rio Paralympic Games Rankings: Men's|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160411113212693_FINAL+To+Publish+160316_MEN.pdf|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329133205/https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160411113212693_FINAL+To+Publish+160316_MEN.pdf|archive-date=29 March 2017|df=dmy-all}} On 11 September, he was up against nine other powerlifters for the top three placings in Riocentro.{{cite web|last=Hale|first=Laura|title=Home » Powerlifting » Honduras’ Gabriel Zelaya Díaz leaves Rio Games without a successful lift in the men’s −72kg class|url=http://www.parasport-news.com/honduras-gabriel-zelaya-diaz-leaves-rio-games-without-a-successful-lift-in-the-mens-72kg-class/11198/|publisher=Parasport-News|date=11 September 2016|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911233410/http://www.parasport-news.com/honduras-gabriel-zelaya-diaz-leaves-rio-games-without-a-successful-lift-in-the-mens-72kg-class/11198/|archive-date=11 September 2016|df=dmy-all}} Zelaya Díaz was unsuccessful during his first try at lifting {{Convert|100|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and could not do the same for {{Convert|105|kg|lb|abbr=on}} at his second attempt. He waved to the crowd for encouragement just before his final try, but despite the increased support, was unable to record a mark. This meant Zelaya Díaz was not ranked by the judges in the competition.{{#tag:ref|Four other athletes failed to set a mark.{{cite web|title=Powerlifting – Men's 72 kg – Final Results|url=https://www.paralympic.org/static/info/rio-2016/resIPC/pdf/PG2016/PO/PG2016_PO_C73_POM072000.pdf|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|date=11 September 2016|access-date=2 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423162600/https://www.paralympic.org/static/info/rio-2016/resIPC/pdf/PG2016/PO/PG2016_PO_C73_POM072000.pdf|archive-date=23 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}|group="n"}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
scope="col"\|Athlete !scope="col"\|Event !scope="col"\|Result !scope="col"\|Rank
align=center \|align=left\|Gabriel Zelaya Díaz \|align=left\|Men's −72 kg \|colspan=2\|{{athAbbr\|NM}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

scope="col"|Athlete

!scope="col"|Event

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Rank

align=center

|align=left|Gabriel Zelaya Díaz

|align=left|Men's −72 kg

|colspan=2|{{athAbbr|NM}}

Swimming

Universidad Católica de Honduras student Emmanuel Díaz was 20 years old at the time of the Rio Summer Paralympics,{{Cite news|url=http://www.radiohouse.hn/emmanuel-diaz-nos-representara-en-los-juegos-paralimpicos-de-rio-2016/|title=Once operaciones no pudieron detenerlo... ¡Y va Para Río 2016!|last=Ruiz Kattán|first=Herman|date=12 July 2016|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011074027/http://www.radiohouse.hn/emmanuel-diaz-nos-representara-en-los-juegos-paralimpicos-de-rio-2016/|archive-date=11 October 2018|publisher=RadioHouse|language=es}} and these Games were his second significant international competition, after the 2015 Parapan American Games.{{cite news|last=Witty|first=Edgar|title=Emmanuel Díaz, el guerrero hondureño que busca conquistar Río|url=https://www.diez.hn/notodoesfutbol/998214-99/emmanuel-d%C3%ADaz-el-guerrero-hondure%C3%B1o-que-busca-conquistar-r%C3%ADo|newspaper=Diario Diez|language=es|date=8 September 2016|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914104924/http://www.diez.hn/notodoesfutbol/998214-99/emmanuel-d%C3%ADaz-el-guerrero-hondure%C3%B1o-que-busca-conquistar-r%C3%ADo|archive-date=14 September 2016|df=dmy-all}} His disability is congenital; he was born with Myelomeningocele, a type of spina bifida, which has shortened his right leg by {{Convert|2.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} and has lost 80% of muscle strength in that limb. Emmanuel Díaz has undergone eleven surgeries to increase his mobility and took up swimming at the age of eight for health reasons. He is classified S7 by the International Paralympic Committee.{{cite news|title=Emmanuel Díaz, nadador hondureño es descalificado de los Paralímpicos por illegar tarde|url=https://tiempo.hn/emmanuel-diaz-eliminado-paralimpicos/|newspaper=El Tiempo|language=es|date=13 September 2016|access-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919221419/http://tiempo.hn/emmanuel-diaz-eliminado-paralimpicos/|archive-date=19 September 2016|df=dmy-all}} Emmanuel Díaz qualified for the Games because of his performance at the 2015 Parapan American Games which placed him ninth in the American rankings and 72nd in the world standings. He trained for half a year to prepare for the Paralympics. Going into the Paralympics, Emmanuel Díaz said he wanted to create history and set a pattern, "The goal we have is the one God has prepared for us, on my part I do not set limits, it will be he who decides where and when he will write my story." He was due to compete in the second heat of the men's 50 metre freestyle S7 event on 9 September but was disqualified for arriving two minutes late because of a miscommunication between competition officials and members of the Honduran delegation.

;Men

class=wikitable style="font-size:90%"
rowspan=2\|Athlete !rowspan=2\|Events !colspan="2"\|Heats !colspan="2"\|Final
scope="col"\|Time !scope="col"\|Rank !scope="col"\|Time !scope="col"\|Rank
align=center \|align=left\|Emmanuel Díaz \|align=left\|50 m freestyle S7 \|colspan=2\|{{athAbbr\|DNS}} \|colspan=2\|did not advance

class=wikitable style="font-size:90%"

rowspan=2|Athlete

!rowspan=2|Events

!colspan="2"|Heats

!colspan="2"|Final

scope="col"|Time

!scope="col"|Rank

!scope="col"|Time

!scope="col"|Rank

align=center

|align=left|Emmanuel Díaz

|align=left|50 m freestyle S7