Paris Paralympics open with ceremony in Place de la Concorde

The opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics has fired the starting gun on 11 days of unforgettable competition.

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

In fine weather — in contrast to the heavy rain at the opening of the Summer Olympics — the Games opened in Place de la Concorde*, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The 4400 athletes from 168 delegations paraded down the adjoining Champs-Elysees* in front of thousands of spectators before entering the historic square as the sun set.

Paralympic powerhouse* China dominated the last Paralympics in Tokyo with 96 golds and has again sent a strong delegation, which cut a red swathe through the arena as it performed a lap of the stage soundtracked by a DJ set of French and global hits.

The ceremony ended with the lighting of the spectacular balloon-elevating cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens, which has become a huge attraction since its debut at the Olympics.

A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics, which run until September 8, including the ornate* Grand Palais* and the Stade de France.

Ticket sales have picked up since the Olympics and organisers say more than two million of the 2.5 million available have been sold, with several venues sold out.

Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also oversaw the Olympics opening ceremony, said there was a clear symbolism in holding 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 there are 1000 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 golds it won in 2021, which left it in 14th position.

Ukraine, traditionally one of the top medal-winning nations at the Paralympics, has sent a team of 140 athletes competing in 17 sports despite the challenges they face in preparing, as the war against Russian forces rages at home.

A total of 96 athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete under a neutral banner but are barred from the opening and closing ceremonies because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Every Games produces new stars, and in this edition look to American above-the-knee amputee sprinter/high jumper Ezra Frech to make the headlines.

Away from the track, more established names go in search of glory. Iranian sitting volleyball legend Morteza Mehrzad, who stands 2.46m tall, will attempt to take gold again and Beatrice Vio, the Italian fencer who had to have all four limbs amputated when she contracted meningitis at the age of 11, is aiming for the third Paralympic title of her career.

The Paralympics always have a far wider message than simply sport and International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons told AFP earlier this year he hoped the Paris edition would restore the issues facing disabled people to the top of the list of global priorities.

Parsons believes the Games “will have a big impact in how people with disability are perceived around the world”.

“This is one of the key expectations we have around Paris 2024; we believe that we need people with disability to be put back on the global agenda,” the Brazilian said.

“We do believe people with disability have been left behind. There is very little debate about persons with disability.”

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GLOSSARY

• Place de la Concorde: historic square in the centre of Paris where Marie Antoinette lost her head
• Champs-Elysees: famous major boulevard in Paris, leading from the Arc de Triomphe
• powerhouse: country, organisation, or person with a lot of influence, power or energy
• ornate: elaborate, detailed, highly decorated
• Grand Palais: landmark historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex in Paris

EXTRA READING

Meet our 2024 Paralympian team

Get your Paris Olympics kit for use during the Paralympics

Paris bids ‘au revoir’ to Olympics

QUICK QUIZ

1. Who is the president of host nation France?
2. How many medals did China win at the Tokyo Paralympics?
   How many athletes did Ukraine send and what has hampered their preparation?
3. How many athletes are competing at the Paris Paralympics?
4. How will wheelchair users get around the city during the Paralympics?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Ceremony scrapbook
Sketch pictures (or find photographs) of some of the key moments from the Paralympics opening ceremony. Assemble these to create a scrapbook album of the Paris Paralympics 2024 Opening Ceremony. Write a short caption (two to three sentences) to accompany each of the sketches/photographs to explain what is shown. Try to match the level of descriptive vocabulary used in this news story when writing your captions.

Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts

2. Extension
Grab your yellow highlighter and see if you can find and highlight all of the adjectives in the story.

Do you see any adjectives that have the same or similar meanings? Copy these groups of words into your book, then try to add more matching synonyms.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
My Paralympic hero
Write a letter to one of the Paralympic athletes. Explain to them how proud you are of them, why they are a Paralympic hero to you, and that you have noticed them. Your letter can be anonymous or you can personally sign it off.

Remember when writing a letter:

• start with a greeting: Dear Sir/Madam,

• then on a new line, write the body of the letter.

• finish with a closing: Kind regards,

• and finally, sign the letter.

Try to include detail and emotion in the letter to connect with your target audience: your Paralympic hero.