The Paris Paralympic Games were officially opened by French President Emmauel Macron. Some 4,400 competitors from 168 countries will compete for 549 sets of medals in 22 sports in the French capital.
At 10:38 p.m. on Place de la Concorde in the French capital, President Macron announced the opening of the 17th Summer Paralympic Games. The Paris Olympics had ended sixteen days earlier. Announcing the opening of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – said President Macron.
The opening ceremony prepared by artistic director Thomas Jolly – as in the case of the Olympic athletes – happened outside the stadium. This time, the athletes’ parade took place on the Champs Elysées, and the grand finale took place on the Place de la Concorde.
Dear athletes, welcome to the land of love and revolution. Rest assured that tonight there will be no storming of the Bastille, no guillotine, because the most beautiful of revolutions is beginning – the Paralympic revolution. Welcome to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. When the competition begins, we will not see women or men with disabilities, we will see you, the champions. – asked the players the president of the organizing committee, Tony Estanguet.
Welcome to the most innovative sporting event in the world! In Paris we will celebrate what makes us unique. It will be 11 days of lots of sport – added the president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Andrew Parsons.
The Paralympic flag was carried by Britain’s John McFall, the first disabled astronaut and Paralympic medalist in the 100 m race. The ceremonial lighting of the Olympic torch was carried out jointly by five French Paralympians.
There were 84 athletes in the Polish team – 41 women and 43 men. Nine of them will take off with the support of an assistant, pilot or guide. The white and red team will compete in 15 disciplines. The standard bearers of the opening ceremony were Lucyna Kornobys, two-time Paralympic champion, world and European champion in shot put, who has been on the podium of the most important events since 2011, and high jumper Maciej Lepiato, world record holder, who returned with a medal from the three previous Olympics, worth twice the zloty.
The Paralympics program includes: football for the visually impaired, badminton, boccia, archery, dressage, weightlifting, goalball, judo, canoeing, athletics, cycling, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis, rowing, swimming, sitting volleyball, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis and triathlon.
Around 4,400 people are expected to take part in the Paralympic Games, which end on September 8. The players, including 88 Russians and eight Belarusians, will be competing under a neutral flag, although they will not be attending the opening ceremony. Due to the invasion of Ukraine, athletes from these countries had to meet the International Olympic Committee’s requirements to participate in the games. These were the same criteria as the Olympic athletes.
Competitors from 168 countries in the French capital will fight for 549 sets of medals in 22 disciplines.
Three years ago, in Tokyo, the Polish team won 24 medals – seven gold, six silver and 11 bronze, which gave them 17th place in the country’s ranking.
