Paralympics 2024 opening ceremony LIVE: Paris prepares for start of Games with athletes parade
The ceremony features athletes participating at the Games and is taking place in the heart of the French captial
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Paris is back in the spotlight this evening as the city hosts the opening ceremony of the Paralympics Games. Fresh off the heels of a blockbuster fortnight of Olympic action, the Paralympic athletes now take centre stage as they compete for medals, records and glory in front of huge crowds watching on around the globe.
The French captial is expected to be packed once again with up to 65,000 spectators expected to attend the first act of the Games which sees 4,400 athletes from 168 delegations parade down the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysees in the heart of Paris ahead of what is sure to be 11 days of intense competition.
The opening ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly has revealed the spectacle will “showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values that they embody”. He has promised “performances that have never been seen before” and claims that the show will “unite spectators and television audiences worldwide around the unique spirit of the Paralympic Games”.
Follow all the latest updates from the Paralympics opening ceremony with our live blog below:
Paralympics opening ceremony
Here comes Great Britain!
We’ve brought a team of 215 athletes with wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker and wheelchair basketball player Terry Bywater carrying the flag during this parade.
ParalympicsGB are focused on winning medals and most of the athletes have skipped the opening ceremony.
Ellie Simmonds on Channel 4 commentary says that this is quite common as athletes prepare to compete in their respective sports tomorrow and the days to come.
Paralympics opening ceremony
China finished second in the medal table at the Paris Olympics just one gold behind the USA. They topped the Paralympics table in Tokyo with 207 medals.
Second in Tokyo were ParalympicsGB, with 124, ahead of third-placed USA.
Will China triumph again this year?
Paralympics opening ceremony
This is probably the best picture so far to sum up the scale of this parade. Canada, China and Cuba are the latest delegations to reach the stage with the Cubans in particular enjoying themselves.
Paralympics opening ceremony
As part of the huge delegation from Brazil is their Paralympics star Petrúcio Ferreira. He’s the fastest Paralympian in the world and is aiming to retain his T47 100m title.
Paralympics opening ceremony
The delegations are making their way through the parade. Brazil have a big contingent of athletes this year and so do Germany.
There are a lot of smiling faces and it’s just a joyous atmosphere all round at the moment.
Paralympics opening ceremony
As the athletes walk into the stage area, at the La Concorde arena, they are met by French DJ Myd who is playing a set at the foot of the obelisk.
The athletes walk the full length of the Champs-Elysees - “the most beautiful avenue in the world”.
Paralympics opening ceremony
We’re now into the Bs.
Bhutan have just one athlete participating at the Paralympics, Kinley Dem. She’s the flagbearer and will be competing in the shooting.
She seems excited to experience the next 11 days of world class sport.
Paralympics opening ceremony
Paralympics opening ceremony
The athletes are parading in the order of the French alphabet. Afghanistan begin the parade and not the refugee team who went first in Tokyo.
Next up is L’Afrique du Sud.
The parade is scheduled to take 90 minutes for all the represented nations to make it along the Champs-Elysee.
Paralympics opening ceremony
Now is the moment we’ve been waiting for. 168 delegations, 4,400 athletes representing nations around the world.
The athletes parade begins with the Arc de Triomphe providing the picturesque backdrop.
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