This is a historic first: the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will not be held in a stadium, but on Place la Concorde. And “symbol of unity”, greeted Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, during a conference organized this Thursday by the organizers of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop).
The option of the Place de la Concorde had already been mentioned last June. The project was amended to satisfy the request of the Paralympic movement to have a gauge equivalent to that of the Stade de France, that is to say at least 60,000 people. The ceremony, validated by the board of directors of the organizing committee this Thursday, will finally extend to the Champs-Elysées to be able to accommodate more spectators.
On August 28, 2024, 4,400 athletes and 2,500 accompanying persons from 184 delegations will march from the avenue roundabout to Place de la Concorde, where four stages will be set up. On the program for the evening: three hours of show divided between parades and artistic performances, under the supervision of Thomas Jolly, director in charge of the artistic direction, also responsible for orchestrating the unprecedented opening ceremony on the Seine for the OJ. The show, which could attract 300 million viewers worldwide, will be designed “like a music festival” using the stages installed on the square, explained Thierry Reboul, director of the ceremonies.
A total of 65,000 people are expected to attend the festivities: 35,000 paying tickets will allow their lucky holders to enjoy the show in the front row, from stands installed throughout the square – which, like other places forming part of the scenography of the Games, should undergo renovations. The 30,000 other spectators will be able to follow the parade of the delegations free of charge with access to the bottom of the avenue des Champs-Elysées.
“Changing the look on disability”
“Sport changes lives and we want to make things happen through this ceremony and these unique games”argued Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee, saying that he would like the Games “as inclusive as possible”. “Behind this ceremony, [l’objectif est de] change the way we look at disability and move forward on certain issues that are still a little behind in terms of transport and accessibility”abounded the para-rowing champion, Perle Bouge, during the press conference.
Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra also indicated that the decree on major sporting events, which are protected by unencrypted broadcasting, would be “readjustedto include parasports. The modernization of this decree dating back to 2004 had already been announced in January 2022 by the Ministers of Sports and Culture at the time to integrate more women’s sport and parasport. France Télévisions should broadcast the entire eleven days of competition, more than 300 hours of live, five times more than during the Tokyo Olympics. For the events, which will be held until September 8, 2024, 3.5 million tickets will be on sale compared to 2.5 million during the London Olympics. A record for the Paralympic Games.
The closing ceremony will take place at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, as for the Olympics. The cost of the opening ceremonies has still not been disclosed. The vice-president of the Ile-de-France region, Patrick Karam, indicated that there will be “an additional cost, we will all bear it collectively”.