Paris Paralympics to highlight disability sports

THE PARIS Paralympics commence on Wednesday with an opening ceremony in a city still celebrating the success of the recent Olympics.

The Games will feature a new generation of paralympians alongside experienced athletes, competing at many venues used during the Olympics.

Of the 35 Olympic venues, 18 will host paralympic events, including the Grand Palais, praised for its hosting of fencing and taekwondo.

The La Défense Arena and Stade de France will also be used, with the former hosting 141 gold-medal events in para-swimming and the latter for track and field.

The opening ceremony will take place in Place de la Concorde, where urban sports were held during the Olympics. This marks the first time the paralympics ceremony will be held away from the main stadium.

The paralympic flame, lit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England, was transported to France through the Channel Tunnel.

Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also directed the Olympics opening ceremony, highlighted the symbolism of holding the paralympics ceremony in central Paris, noting the city's Metro system is not adapted for 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.

Organisers have ensured Paris buses are wheelchair-friendly and have arranged 1,000 specially adapted taxis.

Ticket sales, initially slow, have surged, with more than 1.9 million now sold.

The Games will showcase emerging talents like American sprinter and high jumper Ezra Frech, a 19-year-old amputee who has gained significant attention.

Familiar faces include British sprinter Jonnie Peacock, aiming for a medal at his fourth consecutive paralympics, and Iranian sitting volleyball star Morteza Mehrzad, who stands 8ft 1in (2.46m) tall and seeks another gold.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons hopes the Paris Games will elevate the issues facing disabled people to global prominence.

Parsons believes the Games will impact perceptions of disability worldwide, stating, "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."

He argued that disability has been overshadowed by other issues in recent years, leading to limited debate on the topic.

(With inputs from AFP)