The Paris Paralympic Games open with great fanfare
Paris – The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games opened on Wednesday evening with a sumptuous ceremony that began with a show by the Patrouille de France, followed by a parade of sports delegations.
The Moroccan delegation, made up of 38 athletes (24 men and 14 women), paraded to the loud applause of the public. The national flag was carried by wheelchair tennis champion Najwa Awane and blind football player Hicham Lamlas. After this formal part, the show was over, where music, choreography, songs, light shows, testimonies from parathletes and emotion brightened up this colorful ceremony. Before French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open, thanking volunteers, athletes and spectators, Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, spoke to encourage the paraathletes to give their best. “With each of the emotions that you will make us experience, you will carry a message that will never fade. That is the Paralympic revolution,” he said, promising the public to “experience crazy moments.” For his part, Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, stated that athletes will show, during these Games, that “difference makes us stronger, more beautiful, and that it is a positive vector”. “Let’s open our minds wide, because what the Paralympic athletes are going to show you will amaze you (…) They are here to break world records. They have come to fight for the 1.3 billion people with disabilities”, he stated, expressing the hope that these Games “will be the spark that will trigger the inclusion revolution”. At the end of this ceremony, the Paralympic flame, which had been relayed early in the afternoon in Paris by the famous Chinese actor Jacky Chan, entered the stage and then went to the Tuileries Gardens where the Olympic cauldron was relighted. Some 4,400 athletes, including at least 1,859 women, will take part in the Paris Paralympic Games, compared to 10,500 at the Olympic Games.
2024-08-29 09:17:37