2024-08-29 07:35:27
Modernity meets history: The 17th Paralympic Summer Games begin with a unique show – and a promise.
Pulsating beats, a colorful display of colors – and a big promise: Paris opened the 17th Summer Paralympics at a historic site with a unique, modern show and called on the world to be more inclusive. The atmospheric party on the Champs Elysees and the Place de la Concorde is not just intended to be the initial spark “for the best games of all time.”
At 10:37 p.m., French President Emmanuel Macron uttered the decisive sentence: “I declare the 17th Paralympic Summer Games in Paris open.” It was the starting signal for eleven days of competition in the French capital, during which 549 decisions will be made in 22 sports.
“It has been proven that we need to do more. 225 years ago, the Place de la Concorde was the centre of the French Revolution. I hope that the spark for the inclusion revolution will now spread here. Vive la revolution de inclusion,” said Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee. “From now on, history will be made,” said organisation chief Tony Estanguet to the spectators.
Hollywood icon Jackie Chan was also part of the Paralympic message. More than 50,000 spectators came to the Champs Elysees and to the heart of the opening party, the Place de la Concorde, which was transformed into a huge arena around the ancient Luxor Obelisk, the oldest monument in the city.
Unlike the rainy ceremony at the Olympic Games just over a month ago, the weather played along. In pleasant 25 degrees and clear skies, the approximately 4,400 athletes covered the approximately 300-meter route from the starting point at the Arc de Triomphe across the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde.
In order to ensure accessibility for disabled athletes on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, the traditional cobblestones were temporarily covered with a layer of asphalt. Unlike at the Olympic opening ceremony on the Seine, spectators were also allowed to watch freely along the magnificent boulevard and in the area around the Louvre Museum, where the Paralympic flame was lit. People lined up along the route in rows of five.
Before it got dark, the German team, led by flag bearers Edina Müller and Martin Schulz, was the fourth nation to arrive at the historic square at 8:25 p.m., to great cheers. The square was the venue for Olympic competitions such as 3×3 basketball and skateboarding.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender also welcomed the German team, which included 143 participants and five guides, in the stands.
“I am firmly convinced that we will experience a great start and will then be carried on a wave of enthusiasm,” said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher.
When the team had completed the lap around the Luxor obelisk at the center of the celebrations, several athletes had already left the ceremony. Among them were several wheelchair basketball players, whose first preliminary round game is scheduled for Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. There are more important things than an unforgettable show.