The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games kicked off on Wednesday, August 28th, with a grand ceremony on the famous Champs-Élysées Avenue and the nearby Place de la Concorde. Starting Thursday, another eleven days of sporting action will unfold in the City of Light across 18 of the 35 Olympic venues. The Paris Paralympic Games lifted the curtain with an inauguration ceremony filled with symbolism, where, under the theme ‘from discord to Concord,’ the flame of the world’s largest sports movement for people with disabilities lit up the skies of the French capital, sending a message about the importance of inclusion.
For the first time in Paralympic Games history, the opening ceremony took place outside a stadium, held instead in the exceptional setting of the Tuileries Garden Esplanade, at the Place de la Concorde. The Paris Paralympic Games began on Wednesday, August 28th, with a spectacular opening ceremony in the heart of the French capital, marking the start of 11 days of intense competition. Like the Olympic opening ceremony on the River Seine in July, this ceremony took place outside the main stadium, making it a first for the Paralympic Games. It was at Concorde, the historic square where skateboarding and other “urban” sports were held during the Olympics, that these Games were inaugurated. When the sporting action begins on Thursday, a new generation of Paralympians will join veterans to compete at many of the same venues that hosted Olympic sports.
A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympic Games, which will run until September 8th, including the Grand Palais, which received high praise for hosting fencing and taekwondo under an ornate roof. La Defense Arena will once again host the swimming events, and the athletics will take place on the purple track at Stade de France. Ticket sales, which were initially slow, have picked up since the Olympics, with over two million of the 2.5 million available tickets already sold, and several venues completely sold out.
The Paralympic flame was lit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England, the birthplace of the Games, and traveled to France through the Channel Tunnel before making its way across French cities. Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also oversaw the Olympic opening ceremony, said the Paralympic ceremony in the heart of the French capital, a city whose metro system is particularly inaccessible to wheelchair users, carried deep symbolism. “Placing Paralympic athletes at the heart of the city is already a political statement in the sense that the city is not sufficiently adapted for all disabled people,” Jolly said earlier this week. Organizers have stated that wheelchair users can use Paris buses and have also arranged for 1,000 specially adapted taxis.
Nigerian Paralympians Shining Bright
Nigeria has sent a team of determined Paralympians to Paris, continuing the country’s proud tradition of success in the Games. Known for their excellence in powerlifting and track events, Nigerian athletes have consistently brought home medals, demonstrating their resilience and strength. This year, they aim to build on their past achievements and bring even more glory to the nation.
Powerful Chinese Team
China, the Paralympic powerhouse, will send a strong team: the Chinese dominated the medal table at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, winning 96 golds. The UK came second with 41 golds.
Building on the success of their Olympic team, the host country France aims to significantly improve on the 11 golds they won in 2021, which placed them 14th. French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said she wants France to finish in the top eight of the medal table.
Ukraine, traditionally one of the countries with the most medals at the Paralympic Games, has sent a team of 140 athletes across 17 sports, despite the challenges they face preparing due to the ongoing war against Russian forces in their country.
Russia and Belarus are sending a total of 96 athletes to compete under a neutral banner, but they will not participate in the opening and closing ceremonies due to the invasion of Ukraine.
New Stars, Seasoned Veterans
In this edition, American sprinter and high jumper Ezra Frech, who is amputated above the knee, is expected to grab headlines.
Off the track, Iranian sitting volleyball legend Morteza Mehrzad, who stands at 2.46 meters tall, will once again aim for gold.
The Paralympic Games always carry a message far beyond sports, and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons told AFP earlier this year that he hopes the Paris edition will bring issues facing people with disabilities back to the forefront of global priorities.
Parsons believes the Games “will have a huge impact on how people with disabilities are perceived worldwide.”
“This is one of the main expectations we have for Paris 2024; we believe it’s necessary for people with disabilities to be back on the global agenda,” said the Brazilian. He pointed out that in recent years, disability has taken a back seat to sexual and gender identity.
“We believe that people with disabilities have been left behind. There is very little debate about people with disabilities.”
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