With flag bearers Manolis Stefanoudakis and Theodora Paschalidou, the Greek delegation paraded down the famous Champs-Élysées, concluding at Place de la Concorde, during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Manolis Stefanoudakis is a Paralympic champion and world athletics champion in javelin, which is his event, as well as in shot put, having participated in the Paralympic Games in 2012 in London and the Paralympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
At the London Paralympic Games, he won the bronze medal in javelin in the F54/55/56 category, while also achieving his best performance for 2012. He also participated in the shot put final, where he finished 17th. At the 2016 Paralympic Games, he was crowned gold medalist in javelin, with a throw of 29.45 meters.
On her part, Theodora Paschalidou became in 2023 the first Greek female athlete with vision loss to conquer the peak of Europe, as the 27-year-old judoka won the gold medal at the European Para-Championship in Rotterdam, in the -70 kg category of J1.
It should be noted that the Greek national team for the Paralympic mission, which will participate in the Games, consists of 40 members, specifically 37 athletes, two ramp operators in boccia, and one guide athlete in athletics.
They will compete in 10 sports (swimming, athletics, taekwondo, shooting, archery, equestrian, cycling, weightlifting, judo, and boccia).
About 4,400 para-athletes took part in the parade, which moved from the lower part of the Champs-Élysées to Place Concorde. Among them were 240 French athletes, led by Nantenin Keïta and Alexis Ankin-Kant, the two flag bearers of the “tricolor”.
The music was once again the work of Victor Le Masne, the composer of the anthem for the Olympic Games “Paris 2024”. He composed a score that is “a bit more minimal, a bit more… stripped down” than for the Olympic Games, yet “with lots of drums, many keyboards and a lot of diversity,” as he meaningfully states.
As for the costumes, Daphne Bourguignon… enlisted the French stylist, Louis Gabriel Nouchi, known for his inclusive and sensual fashion, and created about 700 garments. He promises wings, gold, and embroidery in blue-white-red, the colors of the French flag.