The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games officially kick off on Wednesday, August 28, with the opening ceremony, just a few weeks after the conclusion of the Olympic Games in the City of Light.
Over 4,000 athletes with physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 sports over the next 11 days.
Unlike the Olympic opening ceremony, which featured a boat parade along the Seine River, the Paralympic Games will commence with a procession of athletes along the Champs-Élysées leading to a ceremony at the Place de la Concorde.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director who also oversaw the Olympic ceremony, stated that the event “will showcase Paralympic athletes and the values they embody,” promising “unprecedented performances.”
Organizers have reported that more than two million tickets have been sold for the competitions. The first medals will be awarded on Thursday for taekwondo, table tennis, and track cycling. Athletes are grouped by disability levels to ensure maximum fairness. Only two sports, goalball and boccia, do not have an Olympic equivalent.
Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee, noted that the expected 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.
In the United States, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be broadcast on USA Network and streamed on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms on Wednesday, August 28, starting at 12 p.m. Dallas time, with the ceremony beginning at 1 p.m.
For online viewing, fans can access Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, and NBC Sports app.
Schedules and programming details can be checked on NBC Olympics’ website. A special feature of the opening ceremony and the games will be broadcast on NBC during primetime on Friday, August 31, at 8:00 p.m. Dallas time.