France's Macron declares 2024 Paris Paralympics open at grandiose ceremony

FRANCE 24

28 August 2024 at 9:57 am·1-min read

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympics kicked off on Wednesday night with a spectacular ceremony on the famed Champs-Elysées avenue and the adjoining Place de la Concorde in central Paris. From Thursday, eleven more days of sporting action in City of Light featuring more than 4,000 athletes with a physical or intellectual handicap will take place in 18 of the 35 Olympic venues.

The Paris Paralympics began on Wednesday with a spectacular opening ceremony in the centre of the French capital, firing the starting gun on 11 days of intense competition.

Just as for the opening ceremony of the Olympics on the River Seine in July, the ceremony took place away from the main stadium for the first time at a Paralympics.

It is at Place de la Concorde, the historic square where skateboarding and other 'urban' sports took place during the Olympics, that the Games will open.

When the sporting action begins on Thursday, a new generation of Paralympians will join seasoned veterans competing in many of the same venues that hosted Olympic sports.

A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics, which run until September 8, including the Grand Palais which scored rave reviews for its hosting of the fencing and taekwondo under an ornate roof.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said she wants France to finish in the top eight of the medals table.

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