2024 Paralympic Games Paris, see the best photos from the opening ceremony #paralympics #paris2024

The 2024 Paralympic Games have officially begun! With the excitement of the 2024 Summer Olympics still alive in Paris, 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments kicked off the Summer Paralympic Games in an opening ceremony on Wednesday, August 28.Paralympic athletes from more than 168 delegations led the charge in the first-of-its-kind event, marking the first time the Paralympic Games have held their opening ceremony outside of a stadium, just as Paris did for the 2024 Olympics a month earlier. The show began with a performance by Lucky Love, a French singer who lost his left arm at birth, along with wheelchair-bound performers.Then the Paralympic athletes, who will compete for 11 days in the city, paraded on. According to the Associated Press, these Games are projected to have the second-highest attendance rate of any Paralympic Games, after London 2012.

“We are in the heart of the city,” Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said in a statement to the AP, adding, “The symbolism behind this is like the city of Paris is giving our athletes a giant hug.” Wheelchair basketball athlete Steve Serio and sitting volleyball star Nicky Nieves led the charge for Team USA, carrying the American flag across the Champs-Élysées toward the Place de la Concorde, which was where Olympic events including skateboarding, 3x3 basketball and breaking were held.Wheelchair basketball medalist Jitske Visser told Olympics.com, “What an incredible moment for our athletes, who will be part of a historic Opening Ceremony, on the most famous avenue in the world, surrounded by all the charm of Paris.” Speaking to Olympics.com before the event began, Opening Ceremony Artistic Director Thomas Jolly said the event will “showcase Paralympic athletes and the values they embody.”

Christine and the Queens performed a grand concert to kick off the Games, and Paralympic athletes joined in on the fun during the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. The adorable Paralympic and Olympic Games mascots, the Phryges, performed in front of the Louxor Obelisk to prepare the thousands of fans in attendance for 11 incredible days of Games time.IPC President Parsons told the AP that out of 2.5 million tickets for Paralympic events, 2 million have been sold. The city of Paris raised the bar as an Olympic host this year, in a unique wayThe smoke trail in the colours of the French national flag, launched by the French Air Force's elite aerobatic flight team "Patrouille de France", is seen over the Louvre Pyramid during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.