The Paralympic Games are set to open Wednesday as some 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments prepare to compete for 549 medals across 22 sports over 11 days in Paris.
Historic square Place de la Concorde, which hosted skateboarding, breaking and 3×3 basketball during the Olympics, will host the opening ceremony.
Equestrian returns to Château de Versailles, which will host para equestrian events. The Grand Palais transitions from fencing to wheelchair fencing. Archery venue Invalides will host para archery.
The venue beside the Eiffel Tower, which hosted beach volleyball during the Olympics, will host blind soccer, an adaption of the game for visually impaired players in teams of five with a ball containing rattles.
“We’ve got some monstrous iconic sites, and we’re going to get an eyeful,” France’s para triathlon champion, Alexis Hanquinquant, said. “Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. I think we’re going to have some pretty exceptional Paralympic Games.”
Of the sports, only two lack Olympic counterparts: goalball and boccia. In goalball, visually impaired or blind teams roll a ball with bells toward the opposing goal while the defenders act as goalkeepers. In boccia, players aim to throw or roll leather balls as close as possible to a small target ball called the jack.
Compared to the previous edition of the Paralympics in Tokyo, 10 medal events have been added to give female athletes and those with high-support needs more opportunities.
The in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London widely considered the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, and was to make its way via a torch relay under the English Channel to cities all over France before lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony on Wednesday.
Anticipation has been building with Parisians returning from their summer vacations – the city almost felt empty at the beginning of the month with many away at the coast. For locals who missed the Olympic action, the Paralympics are a second chance to catch some of the excitement.
