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The 2024 Paralympics were opened by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday (IST). He kicked off the 11-day competition in a city still riding the wave of a successful Olympics. Macron declared the Games open during a spectacular and colourful opening ceremony at Place de la Concorde in central Paris – the first time the Paralympics opening ceremony has taken place away from the main stadium.
The 4,400 athletes from 168 delegations paraded onto the field at sunset, with host nation France entering last to a standing ovation and cheers from the 30,000 spectators lining the square.
This good weather was in stark contrast to the heavy rain that fell during the Olympic opening ceremony on 26 July.
In one of the main events, French singer Lucky Love, who is missing his left arm below the elbow, gave a soulful performance of his song “My Ability,” accompanied by both able-bodied and disabled dancers.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons told athletes and spectators he expected an “inclusion revolution” before Macron officially declared the Games open.
The ceremony will conclude with the lighting of the cauldron in the Tuileries Garden, which has become a major attraction since its Olympic debut.
A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics, which run until September 8, including the magnificent Grand Palais and Stade de France.
Ticket sales have boomed since the Olympics, with organisers saying more than 2 million of the 2.5 million tickets available have been sold, with many venues completely sold out.
Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also oversaw the Olympic opening ceremony, said there was clear symbolism in holding the Paralympic ceremony in the centre of the French capital – a city whose metro system, in particular, is completely unsuited to the needs of wheelchair users.
“It’s already a political issue to put Paralympic athletes in the heart of the city, because the city is not friendly enough for every person with a disability,” Jolly said this week.
Organisers say wheelchair users can use Paris buses and have also arranged for 1,000 specially adapted taxis.
A nation hopes
Riding on the wave of its Olympic team’s success, host nation France is aiming to substantially improve on the 11 gold medals it won in 2021, which saw it finish 14th in the medal table.
Paralympic superpower China dominated the last Paralympics in Tokyo with 96 gold medals and has sent a strong delegation this time too.
Ukraine, traditionally one of the top medal-winning nations at the Paralympic Games, has sent a squad of 140 athletes to compete in 17 sports, despite facing challenges in preparation because of the war against Russian forces at home.
A total of 96 athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete under neutral banners, but are barred from taking part in the opening and closing ceremonies due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Every Olympics brings out new stars, and this time around, American above-knee amputee sprinter/high jumper Ezra Frech will be in the spotlight.
Away from the track, more established names set out in search of fame.
Iranian volleyball legend Morteza Mehrzad, who stands 8ft 1in (2.46m), will attempt to win gold once again and Italian fencer Beatrice ‘Bebe’ Vio, who had all four limbs amputated after contracting meningitis at the age of 11, is aiming to win the third Paralympic title of her career.
The Paralympic Games have always had a message much broader than the sport itself, and Parsons told AFP earlier this year that he hoped the Paris Games would push the issues facing people with disabilities to the top of the list of global priorities.
The Brazilian believes these Games will have “a major impact on people’s perception of people with disabilities around the world.”
“This is one of our key expectations with regard to Paris 2024; we believe we need to put people with disabilities back on the global agenda,” Parsons said.
“We believe people with disabilities have been left behind. There is very little debate about persons with disabilities.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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