Key events
From the sports to the venues to which stars to look out for, here’s a handy guide to the Paralympics, courtesy of Paul MacInnes:
What are the Paralympic Games?
Eleven days of elite competition across 22 sports. With no fewer than 549 medals at stake, 4,400 athletes will be taking part from 128 different nations, each of them with a physical or cognitive disability.
When does it start?
The opening ceremony for the 17th summer Paralympic Games will take place in Paris on Wednesday 28 August from 7pm UK time. As with the Olympics this summer, the ceremony will be staged not in a stadium but in the city, with the location shifting from the River Seine to the Champs Élysées. A “people’s parade” will be accessible to the general public before arriving at the Place de la Concorde, formerly the site of the Olympic “parc urbain”, which will then stage the climactic portion of the evening and the lighting of the Paralympic torch. The sporting action begins the next day.
Where will the sport be played?
A number of the venues you fell in love with earlier in the summer are set to return, with 18 of the 35 Olympic locations being repurposed for the Paralympics. The Stade de France and La Défense Arena will once again host athletics and swimming, respectively, and cycling will return to the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome. The sand has been removed from the Eiffel Tower stadium so that blind football can replace beach volleyball. The only event to be held outside the French capital will be the para-shooting in Châteauroux.
What time will the action be on?
You have probably already adjusted your body clock to the challenges of consuming sport from the French capital and for those in the UK it’s not very hard (it’s an hour ahead). The sport will begin at 8.30am in the morning local time and end at 10.30pm.
What are the key events?
Much like the Olympics, the centrepiece of the Paralympic Games is the track and field programme. The competition begins on Friday 30 August, runs for nine days and produces medals every day. Both Saturdays are particularly stuffed, with 7 September boasting no fewer than 22 finals over its two sessions. Other marquee events to look out for will be the wheelchair rugby final on Monday 2 September and finals day in the para-rowing at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Sunday 1 September.
Which British stars should we look out for?
Of the 215 athletes that form the ParalympicsGB team this year there are 81 debutants, meaning a great chance for new heroes to be made. Among those fresh names, look out for 19-year-old cyclist Archie Atkinson (racing in the C4 pursuit), the 13-year-old swimming prodigy Iona Winnifrith (going in the SB7 100m breaststroke and SM7 individual medley) and Rachel Choong, world champion in para-badminton who is making her debut at the Games after her classification was finally included in competition.
You can read the rest here:
Stats time. Records will be broken at these Paralympics, with the highest ever number of both delegations (182) and female athletes (about 2,000). The number of female participants is expected to be at least double that at Sydney 2000 and they will compete in a record 235 medal events.
Plug time. If you didn’t sign up for our Paris 2024 daily briefing during the Olympics, it will also be running throughout the Paralympics. Do subscribe for free here.
And the thoughts of the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons:
The concept was always that [by staging the event] in the Champs Élysées and the Place de la Concorde it’s like the city’s embracing the Paralympic athletes, the Paralympic movement. We are seeing it as a gigantic hug for our athletes and this cannot be more positive.
More from the Paris 2024 president, Tony Estanguet:
I believe French people are going to be able to make a difference, to make these Paralympics their own. We went beyond what we dreamed of with the Olympics, creating a true fervour, and I believe it’s going to be the case with the Paralympics as well.
We decided on purpose to position the Games during back to school in France because we want to take advantage of the opportunities it offers. Back to school is a good time to send messages to students, to show inclusion and accessibility, to provide an opportunity for education.
Here’s a taster of what we’re going to see ce soir.
Welcome to our coverage of the Paris Paralympic Games opening ceremony
Bon soir! So 17 days after the Olympics came to an end, it’s time to do it all again as the Paralympics get under way in Paris. Hourra! I think it’s fair to say that Part Un exceeded expectations – as the early French indifference towards the Olympics, poor weather and transport problems gave way to a joyful celebration of nationalism and sport – and there’s already a sense that Part Deux could do the same.
Yes, there’s some local scepticism about the timing of the Paralympics, which coincide with the end of Les Vacances in France, and it’s predicted Paris will welcome about half the number the visitors that travelled for the Olympics. But after months of concerns over low ticket sales and questions about whether the French would embrace disability sport, there’s been a big upturn in interest, with more than 2m of 2.5m tickets sold and many events selling out.
In order to send out a message of inclusivity and accessibility, tickets aren’t needed to watch tonight’s athletes’ parade, which won’t be staged at the Stade de France but will instead take spectators, competitors and TV viewers to the landmarks of Paris – just as the Olympics opening ceremony did. About 4,400 athletes from 182 delegations will be parading along the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe before arriving at the Place de la Concorde, which provided such a memorable backdrop for the Olympic skateboarding, BMX and breaking competitions. The Place de la Concorde will then host the artistic performances and the lighting of the Paralympic torch.
Organisers are keeping the names of tonight’s performers under wraps – but after the Olympics opening ceremony included performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, along with a guillotined Marie Antoinette, the Minions fighting over the Mona Lisa and the controversial but unintentional Last Supper parody, it’s probably wise to expect the unexpected. What the Paris 2024 president, Tony Estanguet, has said is that “the ceremony at the heart of the city is a strong symbol illustrating our ambition to capitalise on our country hosting its first ever Paralympics to position the issue of inclusion for people with disabilities at the heart of our society”.
La cérémonie commence à: 20h Paris time (7pm UK time).
But it’s not all about parades and pizzazz, you know: the competition begins tomorrow morning in sports including track cycling, swimming, taekwondo and table tennis, with 549 gold medals on offer over the following 11 days.
