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RIO DE JANEIRO -- After 1,192 days, Brazils run of hosting mega-sports events came to an end Sunday at the Paralympic Games.It began with soccers Confederations Cup in 2013, extended to the 2014 World Cup, ran through IOC President Thomas Bachs goodbye speech last month at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and finished with the closing ceremony of the Paralympics before 45,000 spectators at Rios Maracana stadium.Awarded when Brazil was a rising economic power, the sports pageants focused unprecedented attention on the country -- much of it unwanted.As the shows went on, Brazil plunged into a deep recession. A billion-dollar corruption scandal buffeted state-run oil company Petrobras, and President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office in an impeachment trial just days after the Olympics closed.This all left a very mixed legacy, Mauricio Santoro, an international relations expert at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told The Associated Press. We are going to need some years to evaluate what was the impact, the worth of these events for Brazil.By a conservative estimate, Brazil spent about $30 billion organizing the events with a mix of public and private money that included the construction of four white-elephant soccer stadiums for the World Cup. All four are in cities without major teams.Rio fared better with the Olympics, getting a metro line extension, bus lines, and light-rail. But much of the investment was aimed at Rios upscale suburb of Barra da Tijuca -- not at the citys sprawling favelas, or slums. The Olympic Park and Athletes Village there will be molded into high-priced commercial and residential properties now that the games are done.I think the Olympics and Paralympics were a boost to the self-esteem of Brazil, Santoro said. They happened when everything was going so bad in Brazil. The mere fact they happened without serious problems, without an infrastructure disaster, without a terrorist attack, made Brazil feel better about itself.Brazils reputation away from home is another matter. Only a handful of foreign leaders attended the Olympics -- compared to about 100 four years ago in London.The state of Rio de Janeiro is broke and defaulting on bond payments. Some schools have suspended classes, and hospitals are understaffed. Only a last-minute bailout of about 250 million reals ($76.5 million) from the federal and local governments saved the Paralympics from a shortfall in the organizing committees privately funded operating budget.There was a feeling that Brazil is such a big mess, Santoro said. How could you have a good opinion of this country?Organizers bragged about legacy, but failed to deliver on a big promise made to secure the bid: the clean-up of Guanabara Bay, an open sewer that receives much of the citys untreated raw waste.Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes acknowledged the clean-up was a missed opportunity, one the International Olympic Committee overlooked and often defended.The Olympics endured some rough going, plagued by empty seats, organizational glitches and scandals -- one involving American swimmer Ryan Lochte and another in which high-ranking IOC member Patrick Hickey was arrested for scalping tickets. Hickey is still in Brazil awaiting trial and denies any wrongdoing.Bach also skipped the opening of the Paralympics to attend a mourning ceremony for former West Germany president and foreign minister Walter Scheel. His office said he missed Sundays closing ceremony to be in New York to take part in the United Nations Refugee Summit.Police investigators in Brazil want to question Bach about email exchanges he had with Hickey related to Irelands ticket allocation. Hes not accused of wrongdoing, but he could be held if he arrives in Brazil.Against most predictions, the Paralympics were a smoother ride with grassroots support. Arenas were packed with many tickets selling at just $3 apiece, in contrast to the Olympics, where many tickets were sold as part of high-end hospitality packages and often went unused.The Paralympics also topped the Olympics in compelling stories, and in some performances.No story was more moving than that of 37-year-old Belgian Marieke Vervoort, who won a silver medal in wheelchair racing. She has a degenerative spine disease and talked of plans to end her life by euthanasia when she can no longer endure the pain.For me, I think death is something like they operate on you, you go to sleep and you never wake up, Vervoort said. For me, its something peaceful.The top four finishers in the mens 1,500 -- in the T13 class for visually impaired runners -- all had better times than the Olympic champion in Rio, American Matthew Centrowitz. Abdellatif Baka of Algeria won in 3 minutes, 48.29 seconds. Centrowitz ran 3:50.00 in an admittedly slow, tactical race.German amputee long-jumper Marcus Rehm, who jumps with a carbon fiber blade and won gold in Rio, also holds the long jump world record of 8.40 meters. This is better than the winning jump in the Rio Olympics at 8.38 meters.There was tragedy, too, when Iranian Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48, died Saturday after crashing in a road-cycling race.China topped the medal table at the Paralympics, which is increasingly driven by nationalism -- much like the Olympics. Britain, Ukraine and the United States were next on the table.The Paralympics are a high-performance sporting event between countries, IPC spokesman Craig Spence said. The goal is to win the most gold medals here. Thats what every sport is about. Its about winning.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wadeYeezy 700 Outlet . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. 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The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book.ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.Hughes had another bogey-free round Friday and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year.Hughes at was at 14-under 128.Pan also is a rookie, and perhaps they can take inspiration from rookie Cody Gribble winning in Mississippi three weeks ago. Hughes and Pan both spent last year on the Web.com Tour to earn their cards.Theres going to be nerves tomorrow, and Im going to be a little jittery starting out, but thats completely natural, Hughes said. But I just think guys come off the Web.com Tour that ... for example, I won in Missouri and I feel like the win translates to being able to win out here. The margin is so small that the things I did on that weekend to win that tournament are the same things Ill have to do Saturday and Sunday.Hughes started his rookie season in the Safeway Open, made the cut and wound up in the same group with Mickelson, who attracted the largest gallery.The atmosphere was a dream start for me, Hughes said. We played the first day, and I had a 9-footer on 19 for par to make par and stay tied with him. I was so pumped that I made it because I got one more round out of it. He was a super nice guy, really welcoming. It was a nice way to break yourself in.There wasnt much of a gallery at Sea Island on another pristine day for scoring, so ideal that the cut came at 5-under par. That probably wont change for the weekend, especially with tournament host Davis Love III and Sea Island neighbors Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among those missing the cut.Even so, it was an experience that could come in handy for the 25-year-old Canadian.Being with him for two days and with his galleries and all the distractions going on there, thats probably as good a preparation as you would have for tomorrow and Sunday, Hughes said. There was so much learning going on that weekend that Ill be able to apply.ddddddddddddIt was the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5 under at the 2015 Zurich Classic.Hughes opened with a 9-under 61 on the Seaside course at Sea Island, while he didnt hit the ball as cleanly over at Plantation, he had few complaints. He picked up three of his birdies at the par 5s, even on the 18th when he found a fairway bunker off the tee and had to lay up. He hit wedge to 8 feet and made the putt.Today was definitely a little more work, Hughes said, though he quickly added that 67 was no slouch of a score and I would take two more of those in a heartbeat.Hughes and Pan, who shot a 64 at Seaside, played together on the Canadian Tour two years ago, and then all last year on the Web.com Tour. Pan had a brief stay atop the world amateur ranking in 2013 when he won eight times at Washington, and he made the cut as an amateur at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.They will be joined in the final group by Hudson Swafford, who lives at Sea Island and shot a 67 on the Plantation. Swafford was three shots behind, along with Chad Campbell, Chesson Hadley and Blayne Barber.It should be fun, Pan said. We played on the Canadian tour last year, and then we played the Web.com Tour this year and now we are both on the PGA Tour. So its exciting to see both of us play well out there, because its a dream come true for both of us.That much was clear when Hughes came into the media center for an interview. He left his seat, walked to the back of the room and handed his phone to his mother to take a picture. It was that kind of moment for him.Even with a two-shot lead, however, the conditions have been such that low scores are available to anyone at any time. Twenty-five players were separated by just five shots with two more rounds to play.That group includes Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink. Four shots behind was Jonathan Byrd, a five-time PGA Tour winner who spent last year on the Web.com Tour and still doesnt have full status. He is playing this week on a sponsors exemption and wants to make the most out of limited chances like this. ' ' '