Sports fever is not over in the French capital, and is expected to be kicked into high gear with the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
ADVERTISEMENTA dozen torches travelled through a dozen towns in France on Monday before the start of the Olympics Games scheduled to take place from August 28 to September 8.
A thousand torchbearers will take turns carrying the flame throughout the European country, before it arrives at its final destination on Wednesday.
French athlete and torchbearer Axel Allétru said he has “dreamed” and watched the Games.
“Being able to carry the flame was huge,” he said, adding, “to be able to share this value of resilience, of surpassing oneself.”
Opening ceremony
With the Summer 2024 Olympics concluded, Paris has shifted its focus to the next major sporting event of the summer: the Paralympics.
The city is preparing to welcome some 4,400 athletes competing in 23 different disciplines ranging from wheelchair rugby to para-athletics.
The Place de la Concorde — which hosted skateboarding, breaking, and 3×3 basketball during the Olympics — has been a hive of construction activity since the Games closed on August 11.
The historic square will host the Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday, marking only the second time the event will be held outside a stadium, after the Olympics’ ceremony on the Seine.
Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet aims to maintain the enthusiasm generated by the Olympics, whilst also shining a light on disability discrimination.
“We want to see how, at our level and with humility, we can contribute to changing this view of disability,” he said at the UK village of Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympic flame began its journey to Paris.
Most Olympic venues will remain in use for the Paralympics.
The Palace of Versailles will host para-equestrian events, the Grand Palais will welcome Wheelchair fencing, and the venue beneath the Eiffel Tower, which hosted beach volleyball, will now host Blind football, an adaptation of soccer for visually impaired players.
Security remains tight
Armed police officers will patrol key areas, and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced the deployment of some 25,000 police officers during the Paralympics to ensure heightened security measures remain in place.
This figure was revised, when French authorities said 10,000 private security guards and 8,000 “Operation Sentinel” soldiers were also deployed.
French para-table tennis athlete Emeric Martin said he sees the buses being checked before entering the Paralympic Village.
ADVERTISEMENT“You see the police passing mirrors underneath, mirrors on top, the doors are taped when you leave the village and they are checked when you arrive at the competition site to see if they have been opened,” he said.
‘Collective reflection’
Organisers promise a ground-breaking spectacle for the opening ceremony, as thousands of athletes and tens of thousands of spectators gather for the event.
“These Paralympic Games must be at the service of a collective reflection, in the hope that people will have a more benevolent view of disability, which remains the leading cause of discrimination in France,” Estanguet said.
“We want to see how, at our level and with humility, we can contribute to changing this view of disability,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Paris 2024 Paralympics will run until 8 September.