The 17th Paralympic Games kicked off in the French Capital City of Paris on August 28 in which over 4,400 athletes from 182 countries will compete across 22 sporting disciplines. There are 549 medal events at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
Paris Paralympics 2024 Off To A Flying Start
The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Paralympics 2024 started with a former French Para swimmer Théo Curin arriving at the Place de la Concorde in a taxi decorated with Paralympic symbols. On his entry, he shouted “Welcome to Paris!” as blue, white and red fireworks then lit up the night sky.
The Phrygians mascots took to the stage to announce the arrival of the delegations as well as the planes of the Patrouille de France.
Read More
The athletes’ parade went on for 90 minutes and ended with the arrival of the French delegation to the music of “Champs-Élysées”, “Que je t’aime”, “Lettre à France” and “Emmenez-moi”.
Following the addresses by Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, and Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, France President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the Paris Paralympics 2024 open.
The Paralympic flag then entered the Concorde and the Paralympic pledge was read out by Arnaud Assoumani and Sandrine Martinet. The Paralympic flame arrived on stage carried by Florent Manaudou which was received by Michael Jeremiasz.
150 dancers and performers carried flaming torches to form the Agitos, symbols of the Paralympic Movement. Meanwhile, Beatrice Vio, Oksana Masters and Markus Rehm carried the Paralympic Flame.
The torch relay started as Markus Rehm ran from the Place de la Concorde with the Paralympic Flame to the Jardin des Tuileries. Assia El Hannouni then carried the torch, as did Christian Lachaud and Béatrice Hess. Alexis Hanquinquant and Nantenin Keïta then joined Elodie Lorandi, Charles-Antoine Kouakou and Fabien Lamirault. Five of them lit up the Paralympic Cauldron.
As Christine and the Queens sang “Born to be alive”, the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics 2024 ended with a gigantic fireworks display. The song “Je t’aime moi non plus” finally brought the curtains down to night’s proceedings.
The Paris Paralympics 2024 will be held from 28 August to 8 September 2024. The multi-sport competition is governed by the International Paralympic Committee.
American Samoa, Belize, Chad, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guam, Kiribati, Kosovo, Palau, South Sudan and Tuvalu will be making their Paralympics debuts at Paris 2024.
The Paralympic Games were conceived to underline the participants’ achievements in sports and not their disability. Recent games have tried to underscore the message that these games are about the ability of an athlete and not their disability.
Also Read: Paris Paralympics 2024: Everything To know About The Trailblazing Event
Paralympics aims to ensure equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes. The International Paralympic Committee, which is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement, comprises 178 National Paralympic Committees (NPC), and four disability-specific international sports federations.
