Starting this Wednesday, Paris will host the Paralympic Games with an unprecedented opening ceremony in the heart of the city, described as a “collective embrace” for the 4,400 participating athletes, including 27 Portuguese.
Swimmer Diogo Cancela and shooter Margarida Lapa will be Portugal’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony, which will take place at Campos Eliseos and Praça da Concórdia starting at 8pm local time (7pm in Lisbon).
Over 11 days, Paris will host athletes from 167 countries and a refugee team at 18 venues that recently hosted Olympic events, competing in 22 disciplines and 549 events in total.
Among the 168 delegations taking part in the competition, which brings together athletes from four of the five disability areas – intellectual, motor, visual and cerebral palsy – there are three newcomers: Eritrea, Kosovo and the Kiribati Islands.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, responsible for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, are promising that France will be the stage for the “most spectacular event in history”, the origins of which go back to 1948, when neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttmann organised a sporting event for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries (in wheelchairs) in the English town of Stoke Mandeville.
“These will be the most spectacular Games ever, the atmosphere is fantastic and the venues will put the athletes in the heart of the city. As they say in French: “La fete continua”. [A festa continua]”After the Olympic Games will come the Paralympic Games,” the IPC president said on Tuesday.
Andrew Parsons did not reveal details of the ceremony, which was led by Thomas Jolly, who was also responsible for the opening of the Olympics, promising only a unique moment in “the heart of Paris, between the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysees, with the Arc de Triomphe below.”
“It will be a unique and fantastic moment, as if the city of Paris is embracing all the Paralympic athletes,” Andrew Parsons said of the opening ceremony, which will be held outside the stadium for the first time.
Portugal will make its 11th appearance at the Paralympic Games in Paris, where it has won a total of 94 medals, represented by 27 athletes competing in a record 10 sports.