What’s in Store for the 2024 Paralympic Games of Paris

How Paris hopes to leave a legacy for future generations through the Paralympics.

After the Paris 2024 Games, the Olympic flame will continue burning bright for the Paralympics, marking the first time France has hosted the summer edition of this prestigious competition.

There’s an exciting programme, with a total of 4,400 athletes from 184 national paralympic committees competing in 549 events across 22 sports and 23 disciplines. And this year, a record 236 medal events will be contested by women, showcasing the growing prominence of female para-athletes.

The choice of spectacular venues in the heart of Paris ensures that the experience will be exceptional not just for the athletes but also for spectators. There will be wheelchair fencing and para-taekwondo at the Grand Palais, para-archery on the Invalides esplanade and blind soccer at the Eiffel Tower, while the Champ-de-Mars will host para-judo and wheelchair rugby and the Château de Versailles will host para-equestrian events. The Olympic flame will be lit in Stoke Mandeville in the UK, the historical cradle of Paralympic history where the first Stoke Mandeville International Games were held in 1952.

The flame will then cross the Channel to Paris for the opening ceremony on the Place de la Concorde. Media coverage of the event will be unprecedented, with a record 300 hours of dedicated broadcasting to promote access to sport for people with disabilities as a lasting legacy of Paris 2024. Plus until September 29, the Panthéon is hosting a ‘Paralympic Stories’ exhibition to honour the men and women who have helped to shape a more inclusive society.

The Paralympics take place August 28 – September 8

Paris2024.org

From France Today Magazine