Against the backdrop of a setting sun, thousands of athletes paraded down the famed Champs-Elysées avenue to Place de la Concorde in central Paris.
By Jerome Pubmire, Associated PressGeneral view during the torch relay as part of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Opening Ceremony at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
About 50,000 people watched the ceremony in stands built around the iconic square, which is the biggest in Paris and is visible from afar because of its ancient Egyptian Obelisk. Accessibility for athletes in wheelchairs was facilitated with strips of asphalt laid along the avenue and placed over the square.will compete in 22 sports
Some delegations were huge — more than 250 athletes from Brazil — and some were tiny — less than a handful from Barbados and just three from Myanmar.Flag bearers Steve Serio and Nicky Nieves led the U.S. team’s delegation. The French arrived last and to roars from the crowd, which then sang along to popular French songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by late rocker Johnny Hallyday.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said he hoped the Paris Paralympics would start an “inclusion revolution” beyond the field of sport. The Paralympic flag was raised high into the night sky and its emblem adorned the top of the Arc de Triomphe about 3 kilometers away.
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