August 28, 2024
The official opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games took place in the center of the French capital, with more than 4,000 athletes from 184 countries and regions taking part in it.
Like the opening of the main Olympics, the ceremony for the first time in the history of the modern Olympic movement took place not in a stadium or other Olympic venues, but right in the center of the Games’ capital.
Moreover, if the first event, on July 26, was considerably spoiled by the pouring rain that drenched the athletes, the closing ceremony took place in ideal weather conditions: the 32-degree daytime heat in Paris subsided a little by the evening, and the sky was cloudless.
However, spectators began to take their seats several hours before the opening, still under the scorching sun.
The ceremony was opened by President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons.
Leaving red, white and blue smoke in the colours of the French national flag, fighter jets streaked across the skies of Paris – and the teams began to enter the square, as usual, in alphabetical order.
The most representative delegation was from Brazil – more than 250 athletes. The most modest was the delegation of Myanmar, from which three Paralympians came.
Photo credit: Reuters
While performers entertained the crowd on stage, Games volunteers danced alongside the Paralympians, waving their national flags, which looked especially festive against the orange sunset.
The Ukrainian delegation was greeted especially loudly by those gathered, and some gave the Ukrainian athletes a standing ovation.
Photo credit: Reuters
The French delegation arrived at the Place de la Concorde last, to the roar of the crowd singing along to the popular French songs playing in the square.
French singer Lucky Love, who lost an arm at birth, was joined on stage by performers in wheelchairs.
Photo by PA
Then, when the national anthem began to play, the Obelisk was painted in the colours of the French flag.
Photo by Paris 2024/Florian Hulleu
Photo caption: To celebrate the opening of the Paralympics, organisers have promised to stage a show on the Place de la Concorde in Paris that the world has never seen before
Over the next week and a half (until September 8 inclusive), athletes with various forms of disabilities will compete in 22 sports.
Athletes are divided into categories based on “the degree of activity limitation caused by their impairment.”
Eight out of 10 categories are physical impairments, such as different leg lengths or missing limbs.
The remaining two are visual and cognitive impairments.