The 2024 Paris Paralympics commenced with a colourful opening ceremony at the Place de la Concorde on Wednesday, with over 4,000 athletes competing in 549 medals.
Its opening ceremony in the centre of the French capital, saw the firing of the starting gun on 11 days of intense competition.
This is the 17th edition of the Paralympics; and it will feature 22 sports for the physically challenged athletes.
Led by Lauritta Onye, Team Nigeria also participated in the parade of athletes.
The country is being represented by 23 athletes, seven coaches and five medical personnel.
Ukraine have sent a team of 140 athletes spread over 17 sports despite the challenges they face in preparing as the war against Russian forces rages at home.
Nigeria’s Sports Minister, John Enoh, urged the athletes to restore Nigeria’s pride on the global stage: “Our para-athletes have always been a source of inspiration and pride for Nigeria. I have no doubt that they will make us proud again in Paris. We are all behind them, and we are confident that they will exceed expectations and bring home numerous medals.”
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.
The La Defense Arena will again host the swimming events and track and field will take place on the purple track of the Stade de France.
Sluggish ticket sales have picked up since the Olympics and more than two million of the 2.5 million available have been sold, with several venues sold out.
The Paralympic flame was lit at Stoke Mandeville hospital in England, the birthplace of the Games, and brought to France through the Channel Tunnel before touring French cities.
Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also oversaw the Olympics opening ceremony, said there was a deep symbolism in having the Paralympics ceremony in the centre of the French capital — a city whose Metro system, in particular, is completely unadapted to the needs of wheelchair users.
“Putting Paralympic athletes in the heart of the city is already a political marker in the sense that the city is not sufficiently adapted to every handicapped person,” Jolly said earlier this week.
Organisers say wheelchair users can take Paris buses and they have laid on 1,000 specially adapted taxis as well.
Riding the wave of its Olympic team’s success, host nation France will be aiming for a substantial upgrade on the 11 gold medals it won in 2021, which left it in 14th position.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said she wants France to finish in the top eight of the medals table.
Russia and Belarus are sending a total of 96 athletes who will compete under a neutral banner but are barred from the opening and closing ceremonies because of the invasion of Ukraine.
The Paralympics always have a far wider message than simply sport and International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons told AFP earlier this year he hopes the Paris edition will restore the issues facing disabled people to the top of the list of global priorities.
