The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games officially begin on Wednesday, August 28, with the opening ceremony taking place just weeks after the conclusion of the Olympics in the City of Light.
More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 sports over the next 11 days.
Unlike the Olympic Games opening ceremony, which featured a boat parade along the Seine River, the Paralympic Games will kick off with a parade of athletes along the Champs-Élysées, culminating in a ceremony at Place de la Concorde.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director who also oversaw the Olympic ceremony, stated that the event “will showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values they embody” and promised “never-before-seen performances.”
Organizers reported that over two million tickets have been sold for the competitions. The first medals will be awarded on Thursday in taekwondo, table tennis, and track cycling. Athletes are categorized based on their level of disability to ensure maximum equality. Only two sports in the program, goalball and boccia, do not have Olympic equivalents.
Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, expressed that the anticipated crowds in Paris will mean a lot to the athletes, many of whom competed in front of empty stands three years ago in Tokyo due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For viewers in the United States, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be broadcast on USA Network and will also be available for streaming on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms starting at 12 p.m. Dallas time, with the ceremony beginning at 1 p.m.
For online streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, NBC Sports app.
Both schedules and programming can be reviewed on the NBC Olympics website. A special on the opening and the games will be broadcast by NBC during primetime on Friday, August 31, at 8:00 p.m. Dallas time.