Paris will open the Paralympic Games with an opening ceremony “never seen before” in the heart of the city

PARIS (AP) — Just weeks after hosting the Olympics, Paris’ summer of sport begins its final chapter Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 sports over the next 11 days.

Organizers are promising a spectacular spectacle to open the Games. Once again, the event will be held outside the confines of a stadium, but unlike the Olympic opening ceremony, which included a parade of boats down the River Seine in the rain, the Paralympic ceremony will take place exclusively on land, with athletes parading down the famous Champs-Élysées to the ceremony on the Place de la Concorde.

Artistic director Thomas Jolly, who led the Olympics opening ceremony, said the event would “showcase Paralympic athletes and the values ​​they embody,” and promised “performances that have never been seen before.” The July 26 opening ceremony highlighted inclusion and diversity.

Wednesday night’s show, which begins at 8 p.m., promises to celebrate the human body, and in much better weather. As the mid-afternoon sun scorched Paris, some fans gathered early to get the best spots on the Champs-Élysées, which leads to the Concorde.

Organisers say more than 2 million of the 2.8 million tickets for the Paris Paralympics have been sold. Competition begins on Thursday with the first medals awarded in taekwondo, table tennis and track cycling. Athletes are grouped by disability level to ensure as level a playing field as possible. Only two sports on the programme, goalball and boccia, do not have an Olympic equivalent.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the large crowds expected in Paris would mean a lot to the athletes, many of whom competed in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As our ambition is to be perceived and understood as the most transformative sporting event on the planet, having this atmosphere is important,” he told The Associated Press on the eve of the opening ceremony.

Access to the parade area has been facilitated by asphalt strips placed along the Champs-Élysées and across the entire Place de la Concorde.

Parsons added that the ceremony would be the city’s way of welcoming the Paralympic athletes with a “giant hug.”

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