French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced the start of the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris.
The opening ceremony of the games, which lasted more than three hours, this time took place outside the stadium. The historic Place de la Concorde near the Champs-Elysees welcomed more than 4,000 athletes.
More than ten temporary stands were set up on the square. French police and military took strict security measures at the opening ceremony. Some metro stations in the city were closed for security reasons, many streets were closed to traffic. About 15,000 law enforcement officers were involved in the ceremony, but the feeling of a light summer evening was in the air as the sun slowly set on the French capital.
International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons also attended the opening ceremony.
Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said in his speech:
Dear athletes, welcome to the country of love and revolution. Rest assured, tonight, no Storming of the Bastille, no guillotine, because tonight the most beautiful revolution starts — the paralympic revolution. It’s a sweet revolution that will change all of us deeply.
The live show began at the foot of the obelisk on Place de la Concorde with Canadian musician, songwriter and producer Chilly Gonzalez performing at the piano.
Artists with disabilities and impairments shouted the countdown and French singer Christine and the Queens performed Edith Piaf’s “Je ne regrette rien.”
The event, led by Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman and featuring 500 artists, was dubbed “Paradox, from discord to concord,” a thinly veiled reference to the Place de la Concorde, where the ceremony concluded in front of more than 50,000 spectators. The parade of athletes from 168 delegations started from the bottom of the Champs-Elysees in a festive atmosphere, with volunteers cheering and dancing.
As the French closing in on the parade entered the square, the theme to Yann Tiersen’s “Amelie” played over the loudspeaker, and the crowd chanted “Allez Les Bleus” with the glittering Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.
Last month’s Olympic opening ceremony was held in torrential rain, which failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the spectators gathered along the Seine River. The ceremony went off without any security glitches, although it sparked controversy over a scoreboard that appeared to parody Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper.”
The Paralympic flag was carried by Britain’s John McFall, who won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and became the first person with a disability to be actually cleared for future flights by the European Space Agency.
The ceremony ended with the lighting of the competition flame bowl by five athletes. The balloon-shaped bowl rose into the sky above Paris after the lighting, symbolising the start of the 2024 Paralympics.
