Despite war, Ukraine sends 140 athletes to Paris Paralympics

The Paris Paralympics begin on Wednesday with a spectacular opening ceremony in the centre of the French capital, firing the starting gun on 11 days of intense competition.

Just as for the opening ceremony of the Olympics on the River Seine in July, the ceremony will take place away from the main stadium for the first time at a Paralympics.

It is in Place de la Concorde, the historic square where skateboarding and other ‘urban’ sports took place during the Olympics, that the Games will open.

When the sporting action begins on Thursday, a new generation of Paralympians will join seasoned veterans competing in many of the same venues that hosted Olympic sports.

A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics, which run until September 8, including the Grand Palais which scored rave reviews for its hosting of the fencing and taekwondo under an ornate roof.

The La Defense Arena will again host the swimming events and track and field will take place on the purple track of the Stade de France.

Sluggish ticket sales have picked up since the Olympics and more than two million of the 2.5 million available have been sold, with several venues sold out.

The Paralympic flame was lit at Stoke Mandeville hospital in England, the birthplace of the Games, and brought to France through the Channel Tunnel before touring French cities.

Theatre director Thomas Jolly, who also oversaw the Olympics opening ceremony, said there was a deep symbolism in having the Paralympics ceremony in the centre of the French capital — a city whose Metro system, in particular, is completely unadapted to the needs of wheelchair users.

“Putting Paralympic athletes in the heart of the city is already a political marker in the sense that the city is not sufficiently adapted to every handicapped person,” Jolly said earlier this week.

Organisers say wheelchair users can take Paris buses and they have laid on 1,000 specially adapted taxis as well.

* Strong Chinese squad –

Paralympic powerhouse China will send a strong squad — the Chinese dominated the medals table at the Covid-delayed Games in Tokyo three years ago winning 96 golds. Britain were second with 41 golds.

Riding the wave of its Olympic team’s success, host nation France will be aiming for a substantial upgrade on the 11 golds it won in 2021, which left it in 14th position.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said she wants France to finish in the top eight of the medals table.

Ukraine, traditionally one of the top medal-winning nations at the Paralympics, have sent a team of 140 athletes spread over 17 sports despite the challenges they face in preparing as the war against Russian forces rages at home.

Russia and Belarus are sending a total of 96 athletes who will compete under a neutral banner but are barred from the opening and closing ceremonies because of the invasion of Ukraine.

* New stars, seasoned veterans –

Every Games produces new stars, and in this edition look to American above-the-knee amputee sprinter/high jumper Ezra Frech to make the headlines.

Away from the track, Iranian sitting volleyball legend Morteza Mehrzad, who stands 8ft 1in (2.46m) tall, will attempt to take gold again.

The Paralympics always have a far wider message than simply sport and International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons told AFP earlier this year he hopes the Paris edition will restore the issues facing disabled people to the top of the list of global priorities.

Parsons believes the Games “will have a big impact in how people with disability are perceived around the world”.

“This is one of the key expectations we have around Paris 2024; we believe that we need people with disability to be put back on the global agenda,” the Brazilian said.

He argued that disability had fallen behind sexual and gender identity in recent years.

“We do believe people with disability have been left behind. There is very little debate about persons with disability.”

AFP