RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Rio Paralympics have hit the midpoint, with its Brazilian hosts overcoming budget issues to stage what has been a successful games so far, with higher-than-expected attendance and scores of records.For those who are just tuning in, here are some eye-catching things to know about the global sports festival for people with disabilities.- TOPPING LONDON: The London Paralympics in 2012 set attendance records, but the Rio version is primed to outpace that event when it comes to setting new marks on the field. Through its sixth day, the Rio Paralympics have seen 132 world records fall, and 214 Paralympic records. The totals for London were 251 world and 314 Paralympic marks. Craig Spence, spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee, said the Paralympics are still developing, which accounts for the gaudy stats. Maybe in a generations time well see the number of world records reduce, he said, but at the moment we still see quite a lot.- PAY TO PLAY? In many countries, Paralympians get significantly less support than Olympians. The U.S. Olympic Committee awards athletes $25,000 for a gold medal. American Paralympic athletes get $5,000. Sponsorships can be tough to come by, too. U.S. cyclist Joe Berenyi won his fourth Paralympic medal, in 3000-meter individual pursuit, earlier in the games and was once nominated for an ESPY, but has not been signed by a major sponsor.- PRACTICE, PRACTICE: U.S. athletes Josh George and Tatyana McFadden are two of the top wheelchair marathon racers in the world, but its not easy. George and McFadden work out six or seven days a week, sometimes twice a day, on the track and on the road, logging a 100-plus miles a week. The athletes also weight train two or three days a week.- NOT IN THE OLYMPICS: There are two sports at the Paralympics that dont appear in any form at the Olympics. One is goal ball, in which athletes with visual impairments wear masks to completely block their vision. The athletes try to throw or roll the ball past the end line with opposing defenders trying to block the ball. The ball contains a bell so the athletes are able to react to the shot.The other game is boccia, the well-known game of skill in which an athlete or a team rolls colored balls as close as possible to a white target known as the jack.- POWERLIFTING: Another sport worth a mention. The ultimate in bench press, which is the only weightlifting discipline in the games. Lying on their backs, and strapped to the bench, competitors lift up to three times their body weight.---Brett Gravatt is a student at Penn State University. Penn State and Georgia are partnering with The Associated Press to supplement coverage of the 2016 Paralympics. Cheap Air Max . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Cheap Authentic Air Max . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Fake Air Max . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Since promoters Andrey Ryabinsky of World of Boxing and Don King were unable to make a deal, the vacant interim heavyweight title fight between former titleholders Alexander Povetkin and Bermane Stiverne went to a purse bid on Friday, and Ryabinsky won by knockout.Ryabinsky, Povetkins promoter, won the WBC purse bid at a New York hotel with an offer of $3.165 million, easily beating out the two other bids submitted.Don King, who promotes Stiverne, bid $2.1 million, and Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger, which used to work with Stiverne, bid $542,000.The split is 50-50, so Povetkin and Stiverne are each entitled to $1,424,250 apiece. The remaining 10 percent of the winning bid, $316,500, will go to the winner of the fight as a bonus.According to the WBC, World of Boxing has 15 days to provide the date of the fight and the location and 21 days to deliver signed contracts to the organization.Also, both fighters are required to be part of the WBCs Clean Boxing Program, which has contracted with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association to handle random testing for its world title fights (blood and urine). Povetkin has already enrolled. Stiverne must still do so, the WBC said.Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) and Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) are meeting for the vacant interim belt while world titleholder Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) recovers from surgery on his right hand and right biceps after he suffered injuries?in an eighth-round knockout of Chris Arreola on July 16 to retain the title. Wilder will be sidelined until at least early 2017 and is obligated to fight the winner of Povetkin-Stiverne upon his return.Wilder already owns a lopsided decision win against Stiverne, 37, a Haiti native living in Las Vegas. Wilder handily defeated Stiverne to win the title in January 2015.Wilder was due to face Povetkin, 37, of Russia, in a mandatory defense this year on May 21 in Moscow, Russia, after Ryabinsky also won a purse bid to gain control of that fight. But Povetkin tested positive for trace amounts of thhe banned substance meldonium, and the fight was canceled.ddddddddddddHowever, the WBC investigated Povetkins failed drug test and ultimately elected not to punish him, because the amount of the substance in his system was far below the threshold accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency in an updated notice on the drug published in June. The ban on the drug went into effect Jan. 1. While Povetkin has admitted to using it, he has said he did not take it after the ban began.Questions remain, however, about how Povetkin could have tested negative in random VADA doping tests conducted on April 7, 8 and 11, while the A and B samples from his April 27 test were positive for meldonium.Povetkin and Wilder are suing each other over the cancellation of the May fight, and the WBC on Friday made a ruling related to that bout in addition to holding the purse bid.For the avoidance of doubt, the WBC hereby states that the WBC ruling was not intended to convey, and should not be construed as conveying, a conclusion about whether Mr. Povetkin did or did not take meldonium after it became a banned substance on January 1, 2016, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said.Sulaiman also clarified the WBCs position as to what would happen once the Povetkin and Wilder lawsuit goes to trial, possibly as early as February barring a settlement.If Mr. Wilder prevails at that trial, the WBC shall afford Mr. Povetkin the opportunity to show that the trials result was not based on a finding that Mr. Povetkin ingested meldonium after January 1, 2016, Sulaiman said. If Mr. Povetkin fails to make that showing the WBC shall: (a) withdraw recognition of Povetkin as interim world champion (if he wins that title); (b) withdraw any mandatory challenger status he might have; and (c) impose any penalties upon Mr. Povetkin as per the WBC Clean Boxing Program protocol, which includes suspensions and fines. ' ' '