Paris Olympics: Facts about the 2024 Paris Paralympics

While it’s the third time Paris has hosted the Summer Olympics, it is only the first time it has held the Paralympic Summer Games.

The Games will be held in and around Paris, including the suburbs of Saint-Denis and Versailles, and Vaires-sur-Marne, just outside the city, between 28 August and 8 September.

PARALYMPICS HISTORY
The Paralympic movement began in 1948, when Sir Lugwig Guttmann organised a sporting competition in England involving 16 World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries*.

The first ever Olympic-style games for athletes with a disability were organised in Rome, in 1960, shortly after the conclusion of the Olympic Games. This attracted 400 participants from 23 countries who competed in eight sports.

Since then, every four years, in the same year as the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games have been held and are now one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

OPENING CEREMONY
Just like the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Paris is set to hold the event outside a traditional stadium (the first time this has ever been done).

The Paralympic Opening Ceremony will take place at Place de la Concorde* and the Champs-Elysees* (two very famous public areas in the city) on August 28.

The event will include spectacular performances that aim to transform Paris and showcase the values of the Paralympic athletes to spectators at the event as well as the millions watching on TV around the world.

PARALYMPIC SPORTS
There are no new sports at this year’s Paralympic Summer Games, but it is only the second time that para-badminton will be featured after making its debut at Tokyo 2020.

The 22 sports of the Paralympics are blind football, boccia, goalball, para-archery, para-athletic, para-badminton, para canoe, para-cycling road, para-cycling track, para-equestrian, para judo, para-powerlifting, para-rowing, para-swimming, para table tennis, para taekwondo, para-triathlon, shooting para-sport, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

While most Paralympic sports have an Olympic version, boccia and goalball do not.

Boccia is played indoors on a 12.5m x 6m court. Each player starts each round or “end” with six balls; the goal of the sport is to throw or roll these balls as close as possible to a small white ball called the “jack.”

Individual and pair matches consist of four ends, while matches played by teams of three consist of six ends.

Goalball is played by two teams of three players on the same-sized court used for volleyball (18m long and 9m wide).

The attacking team tries to score by rolling a ball with bells inside it at speed along the floor towards the opposite goal defended by their opponents. Tactile markings* help players figure out where they are. Teams take turns attacking and defending.

PARALYMPIC CLASSIFICATIONS
Each athlete must undergo a classification process before taking part in the Games. This means they are assessed and given a sports class based on the level and nature (what it is) of their impairment*.

The classifications are usually represented by a letter (the sport’s first letter) and a number (the lower the figure, the greater the impairment usually is). This means that each sport has its own classification system. For example, a para-swimming classification is S1.

Doing this ensures that the competition is fair between all athletes.

FUN FACTS

• A record number of athletes are expected to participate in the 2024 Paralympic Summer Games – around 4000.
• There will be 549 medal events across 22 sports over 11 days of competition.
• The Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024 logo will be the same for the first time.
• The Paralympic mascot, a Paralympic Phryge (a famous French hat) has a prosthetic* leg. This is the first time a mascot has had a physical disability.

AUSTRALIA’S PARALYMPIC ATHLETES TO WATCH
The Australian Steelers

The Australian Steelers, the Australian Paralympic Rugby Team, have a good chance of winning gold at the 2024 Games after winning the qualification tournament*, where they beat Canada in a very tight match, 49-48.

Madison de Rozario

Known as Australia’s Queen of Para-athletics, Madison won the Marathon T54 and 800m T53 in Tokyo 2020 and is an athlete to look out for in Paris 2024.

Curtis McGrath

Australia’s greatest para-canoeist won both of his events, the KL2 and VL3, at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Summer Games. Curtis is aiming to do it again in Paris.

Alexa Leary

Making her Paralympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games after suffering a cycling accident only two years ago, Alexa is just outside the world record time for the 100m freestyle S9 (para-swimming).

She won silver in this event at the 2023 World Championships and gold in the 50m Freestyle S9.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• spinal cord injuries: damage to the nerves that send and receive signals to the brain, often leading to the loss of feeling and movement in the legs and/or arms
• Place de la Concorde: the largest public square in Paris, featuring statues and monuments like the Luxor Obelisk and the Fountain of River Commerce. The square was used for executions during the French Revolution
• Champs-Elysees: a famous avenue in Paris
• tactile markings: markings you can feel
• impairment: not being able to do something to the full ability
• prosthetic: an artificial limb
• qualification tournament: a competition where the best players are chosen for the Paralympics

QUICK QUIZ
1. When was the first Paralympic Games held?
2. How many athletes competed in the first Paralympics?
3. How many athletes are competing in this year’s Paralympics?
4. What is the name of the Paris 2024 Paralympic mascot?
5. Which sport does Alexa Leary compete in?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Kids News has produced a free Paris Olympics education workbook full of classroom activities to support the information in this series.

It has been crafted by one of our expert Kids News teachers and complements the information in these education kit articles.

Sign up to the free Kids News weekly newsletter HERE to access the education workbook plus more news and initiatives.

EXTRA READING
PART 11: Oz Olympic heroes