ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION<br/> <br />Wheelchair-bound physicist Stephen Hawking and South Africa's 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius were among the luminaries on hand for the opening of the biggest Paralympics in the 11-day competition's history.<br/> <br />Hard on the heels of the hard-act-to-follow London 2012 Olympics, the Paralympics got off to a rousing start with dancers, fireworks and near sold-out ticket sales for competitions to be held in the same Olympics park venues.<br/> <br />Hawking, diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and told in 1963 he had two years to live, led the opening ceremony.
