Paris Paralympics 2024 Opening Ceremony: After the Olympics, Paris is now ready to host the Paralympics as well. It began on Wednesday (28 August) with a grand opening ceremony in the heart of the French capital Paris. The opening ceremony took place at prestigious places like Place de la Concorde (Paris’ largest square) and Champs-Elysees.
This time the Paralympic Games are to be held in Paris from 28 August to 8 September. Sumit Antil and Bhagyashree Yadav were selected as the flag bearers of India for the opening ceremony at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Both entered waving the tricolor and the entire Indian team was also with them.
The Paris Paralympics will last for 11 days. Usually the Paralympics take place inside stadiums, but unlike traditional ceremonies, this time the opening ceremony of the Paralympics took place in the open, featuring some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde and Trocadero.
The opening ceremony took place with a grand parade…
The Paris Paralympics began with a grand parade on the prestigious Champs-Elysees, in which delegations from 184 countries from all over the world participated. 6,000 athletes and officials attended the opening ceremony.
Speaking to Olympics.com ahead of the opening ceremony, Paralympic Opening Ceremony Artistic Director Thomas Jolly said, “Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman will perform in it.”
He had said, ‘Dance will be the main attraction in Ekman’s performance, which will include more than 150 dancers, including differently-abled ones. Ekman is known for Swan Lake in Oslo in 2016, where he created a stage lake with 6,000 liters of water.’
India won 19 medals including 5 gold in Tokyo
India has sent its largest ever contingent of 84 players to the Paris Paralympics. All the athletes will participate in 12 sports. In the Tokyo Paralympics held in 2021, 54 players from India participated in 9 sports.
In the Tokyo Paralympics, Indian players performed brilliantly and secured 24th position by winning 5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals. This was their best performance in these games. This time Indian para athletes have set a target of winning 25 medals in Paris.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)