The programme, introduced by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, was for the best competitors over the first two days of action at the Icaro de Castro Melo Stadium.

The eight fastest men and women lined up for Super Challenges over the distances of 100m and 400m, as well as the men's 1500m.

T47 star Ferreira won the men’s 100m after clocking a time of 10.66sec, 0.13 seconds slower than his world record of 10.53.

Compatriot Vinicius Rodrigues also performed strongly as the T36 athlete finished in 12.14, just shy of his personal best of 11.99.

Another Brazilian, T47 athlete Washington Junior, finished third in the race with a time of 10.94.

He beat team-mate Yohansson Nascimento by a slender margin of 0.02 seconds.

In the women’s race, Brazil’s Tascitha Oliveira Cruz improved her own season best time as she ran the 100m in 14.58 - almost a full second ahead of the chasing pack in the T36 class.

T38 athlete Verônica Hipólito of Brazil crossed the line in 13.26, her best performance in 2018.

The 21-year-old Paralympic silver and bronze medallist is due to undergo surgery to remove a tumour from her forehead in the next few days.

In the men’s 1500m, Ethiopia's Tamiru Demisse stood out as he once again as he won in 3min 57.40sec.

More than 230 Para-athletes competed at the Grand Prix, which doubles up as the 2018 Loterias Caixa Athletics Open Championships.

The Grand Prix series is scheduled to resume in Beijing next month.

Competition in China’s capital is set to be held from May 11 to 13.