The Paralympic emblem is seen on the Area Paris Sud venue forward of the Paris Paralympics, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photograph/Aurelien Morissard)
The Paralympics start in Paris on Wednesday, placing on show the skills of outstanding athletes in a metropolis nonetheless driving the wave of the extremely profitable Olympics.
A brand new technology of Paralympians might be joined by seasoned veterans competing in most of the identical sensational venues within the centre of the French capital that hosted Olympic sports activities.
A complete of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues might be used for the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8, together with the Grand Palais which scored rave critiques for its internet hosting of the fencing and taekwondo.
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The La Protection Area is again as effectively, internet hosting the 141 gold-medal occasions in para-swimming, as is the Stade de France which hosts observe and subject.
The opening ceremony will happen at Place de la Concorde, which hosted skateboarding and different ‘city’ sports activities throughout the Olympics. Simply as for the Olympics ceremony on the River Seine, the ceremony takes place away from the primary stadium for the primary time at a Paralympics.
Ticket gross sales have been sluggish, with lower than half of the tickets reportedly bought by the point the Olympics have been in full swing, however they’ve sped up markedly since then and organizers say a number of venues are sold-out.
Each Video games creates new stars, and this version might be no exception, so look to American above-the-knee amputee sprinter/excessive jumper Ezra Frech, who at 19 has already attracted a burst of publicity about his journey to Paris.
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Extra acquainted names return too -– British amputee sprinter Jonnie Peacock was one of many highest-profile athletes of London 2012 and dusted off his operating blade final yr to make a comeback in his bid to win a medal at a fourth consecutive Paralympics.
Sturdy Chinese language group
Pedestrian stroll on a bridge in entrance of the China group constructing on the athletes’ village for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics recreation, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on July 18, 2024, forward of the opening ceremony. (Photograph by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
The Paralympics although all the time have a far wider message than merely sport and Worldwide Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons instructed AFP earlier this yr he hopes the Paris version will restore the problems going through disabled folks to the highest of the checklist of worldwide priorities.
Parsons believes the Video games “could have a big effect in how folks with incapacity are perceived around the globe”.
“This is likely one of the key expectations we have now round Paris 2024; we consider that we want folks with incapacity to be put again on the worldwide agenda,” the Brazilian stated.
He argued that incapacity had fallen behind sexual and gender identification lately.
“We do consider folks with incapacity have been left behind. There may be little or no debate about individuals with incapacity.”
Paralympic powerhouse China will ship a powerful squad — the Chinese language dominated the medals desk in Tokyo three years in the past profitable 96 golds. Britain have been second with 41 golds.
Driving the wave of its Olympic group’s success, host nation France might be aiming for a considerable improve on the 11 golds it gained in 2021.
Ukraine, historically one of many high medal-winning nations on the Paralympics, will nonetheless ship a group of 140 athletes unfold over 17 sports activities regardless of the challenges they face in getting ready because the conflict in opposition to Russian forces rages.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete beneath a impartial banner, with out group colours, however won’t be permitted to participate within the opening or closing ceremonies.
The Russian and Belarusian federations have been each suspended following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 however their opponents are allowed to compete as neutrals offering they haven’t proven any help for the conflict.
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