In 1948, Dr Ludwig Guttmann started the Stoke Mandeville Games which went on to become the Paralympic Games in Rome, 1960. And it was in Stoke Mandeville village, the origin of the Paralympic Movement, that the Paralympic flame was lit on August 24, 2024. It will then journey on to France which is all set to host the Paralympic 2024 Games.
In this comprehensive preview, we will provide you with all the key facts that you should be equipped with before the action kicks off. Let’s dive right in.
Dates, Venues and Medals
The summer Paralympic Games are scheduled to commence on August 28 and run for a total of 11 days till September 8. It will be a Parisian (or French) debut to host these Games in 2024. Just as the Olympic opening ceremony made history, even the Paralympic opening ceremony will be held outside a stadium, for the first time ever.
The Parisian streets, from Avenue des Champs-Elysees to Place de la Concorde, will bear witness to a grand parade of athletes for the opening ceremony. It will also feature performers with disabilities and spectators who will cheer on the athletes. The closing ceremony will take place on September 8 as Paris will bid adieu to the Games.
Quite a few venues that already starred in the Olympics will enliven with the Paralympic events as well. Here are some of the venues we know so far.
Stade de France: Athletics
La Defense Arena: Swimming
Roland Garros: Wheelchair tennis
Chateau de Versailles gardens: Para-equestrian
Grand Palais: Wheelchair fencing and para-taekwondo
Apart from these, the blind football competition will take place in a newly made stadium, right at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The heart of Paris will host the para-triathlon, while the River Seine will be part of the swim leg.
The Games also boasts 549 sets of medals that the competitors can win in the coming 11 days. And the cherry on top is that this event features 236 women’s medal events. But the most interesting thing about the medals is that they have an embedded piece of original iron right out of the Eiffel Tower, and also feature engravings and braille for distinguishing.
Featured Sports
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The Paralympics Games in Paris 2024 feature a total of 22 different types of sports in 23 disciplines. Unlike the last two Paralympic Games, this year’s programme does not introduce any new sports. Viewers in the UK can catch all the action of these sports on Channel 4, which will air everything. Here is a complete list of the 22 sports that will be played in the Games.
- Para archery
- Para athletics
- Para badminton
- Blind football
- Boccia
- Para canoe
- Para cycling
- Para equestrian
- Goalball
- Para judo
- Para powerlifting
- Para rowing
- Shooting para sport
- Sitting volleyball
- Para swimming
- Para table tennis
- Para taekwondo
- Para triathlon
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair fencing
- Wheelchair rugby
- Wheelchair tennis
Participating Nations
The Paris Games are out to create new records right from the beginning as 4,400 athletes from 168 delegations will make their way to the French capital. 167 National Paralympic Committees (NPC) will be part of the Games. Three new NPCs, Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo, will also make their first entrance into the Paralympics.
This year will also feature the biggest Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT) with 8 athletes accompanied by two sighted guides. The Neutral Paralympic Athletes delegation will consist of 90 Russian participants and 8 from Belarus.
The competition will grow more fierce this year due to the record-breaking participation of athletes as compared to Tokyo 2020. The Paris Paralympics will also leave a legacy as it proudly boasts the most number of female participants ever recorded in the Games’ history.
ParalympicsGB
Apart from blind football, goalball and sitting volleyball, ParalympicsGB, which stands for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has qualified for the other 19 sports. In the Tokyo Games, ParalympicsGB was the runner-up on the medal table, right after China, with 124 medals in 18 sports, out of which, 41 were gold.
In the Paralympics 2024, the team has prepared to send about 213 athletes to Paris. Let’s take a look at the confirmed participants.
Para-athletics
Women
- Fabienne Andre
- Kare Adenegan
- Hollie Arnold
- Olivia Breen
- Hannah Cockroft
- Madeline Down
- Sabrina Fortune
- Sophie Hahn
- Sammi Kinghorn
- Anna Nicholson
- Funmi Oduwaiye
- Didi Okoh
- Eden Rainbow-Cooper
- Ali Smith
- Hannah Taunton
- Melanie Woods
Men
- Aled Davies
- Jonathan Broom-Edwards
- Karim Chan
- Dan Greaves
- Nathan Maguire
- Luke Nuttall
- Jonnie Peacock
- Dan Pembroke
- Marcus Perrineau-Daley
- Ben Sandilands
- Zac Shaw
- Daniel Sidbury
- Zak Skinner
- Isaac Towers
- Harrison Walsh
- David Weir
- Thomas Young
Para-powerlifting
- Olivia Broome (women’s up to 50kg)
- Lottie McGuiness (women’s up to 55kg)
- Zoe Newson (women’s up to 45kg)
- Louise Sugden (women’s up to 79kg)
- Mattie Harding (men’s up to 80kg)
- Liam McGarry (men’s over 107kg)
- Mark Swan (men’s up to 65kg)
Para-archery
- Nathan Macqueen (Compound Men Open)
- Jodie Grinham (Compound Women Open)
- Phoebe Paterson Pine (Compound Women Open)
- Victoria Kingstone (Women WI)
Para-triathlon
- Lauren Steadman
- Claire Cashmore
- Michael Taylor
- Finley Jakes
- Megan Richter
- Hannah Moore
- Henry Urand
- Dave Ellis and guide Luke Pollard
- Oscar Kelly and guide Charlie Harding
- Alison Peasgood and guide Brooke Gillies
- Mel Nicholls
Para-cycling
Men
- James Ball and pilot Steffan Lloyd
- Steve Bate and pilot Chris Latham
- Neil Fachie and pilot Matt Rotherham
- Matt Robertson
- Fin Graham
- Jaco van Gass
- Ben Watson
- Archie Atkinson
- Jody Cundy
- Blaine Hunt
Women
- Lora Fachie and pilot Corrine Hall
- Lizzi Jordan and pilot Danni
- Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl
- Fran Brown
- Daphne Schrager
- Kadeena Cox
- Sarah Storey
Para-judo
- Daniel Powell (J1 -90kg)
- Evan Molloy (J2 -90kg)
- Chris Skelley (J2 +90kg)
Wheelchair tennis
- Ben Bartram (men’s singles and doubles)
- Abbie Breakwell (women’s singles and doubles)
- Alfie Hewett (men’s singles and doubles)
- Andy Lapthorne (quad singles and doubles)
- Gordon Reid (men’s singles and doubles)
- Lucy Shuker (women’s singles and doubles)
- Greg Slade (quad singles and doubles)
- Dahnon Ward (men’s singles and doubles)
Para-equestrian
- Mari Durward-Akhurst
- Georgia Wilson
- Natasha Baker
- Sophie Wells
Para Table Tennis
- Will Bayley (Men’s class 7 singles, men’s class 14 doubles)
- Rob Davies (Men’s class 1 singles, men’s class 4 doubles)
- Paul Karabardak (Men’s class 6 singles, men’s class 14 doubles)
- Tom Matthews (Men’s class 1 singles, men’s class 4 doubles)
- Aaron McKibbin (Men’s class 8 singles, men’s class 18 doubles)
- Martin Perry (Men’s class 6 singles, men’s class 14 doubles)
- Fliss Pickard (Women’s class 6 singles, women’s class 14 doubles)
- Megan Shackleton (Women’s class 4 singles, mixed class 7 doubles)
- Billy Shilton (Men’s class 8 singles, men’s class 14 doubles)
- Joshua Stacey (Men’s class 9 singles, men’s class 18 doubles, mixed class 17 doubles)
- Bly Twomey (Women’s class 7 singles, women’s class 14 doubles)
Wheelchair Basketball
Men
- Abdi Jama
- Jim Palmer
- Simon Brown
- Kyle Marsh
- Gregg Warburton
- Harry Brown
- Phil Pratt
- Peter Cusack
- Ben Fox
- Terry Bywater
- Lee Fryer
- Lee Manning.
Women
- Sophie Carrigill
- Charlotte Moore
- Jodie Waite
- Laurie Williams
- Joy Haizelden
- Maddie Martin
- Robyn Love
- Helen Freeman
- Amy Conroy
- Katie Morrow
- Lucy Robinson
- Jade Atkin
Para-rowing
PR3 mixed coxed four
- Frankie Allen
- Josh O’Brien
- Giedre Rakauskaite
- Ed Fuller
- Erin Kennedy
PR3 mixed double sculls
- Sam Murray
- Annie Caddick
PR2 mixed double sculls
- Lauren Rowles
- Gregg Stevenson
PR1 Men’s single sculls
- Benjamin Pritchard
Wheelchair Fencing
- Piers Gilliver
- Dimitri Coutya
- Oliver Lam-Watson
- Gemma Collis
Para-canoe
- Emma Wiggs
- Jeanette Chippington
- Charlotte Henshaw
- Laura Sugar
- Rob Oliver
- Dave Phillipson
- Hope Gordon
- Jack Eyers
- Ed Clifton
Shooting Para-sport
- Matt Skelhon
- Ryan
- Tim Jeffery
- Issy Bailey
Wheelchair Rugby
- Jonathan Coggan
- Nick Cummins
- Kieran Flynn
- Dan Kellett
- Ollie Mangion
- Aaron Phipps
- Stuart Robinson
- David Ross
- Jack Smith
- Jamie Stead
- Gavin Walker
- Tyler Walker
Para-badminton
- Dan Bethell (SL3 men’s singles)
- Rachel Choong (SH6 women’s singles and mixed doubles)
- Krysten Coombs (SH6 men’s singles)
- Jack Shephard (SH6 men’s singles and mixed doubles)
Boccia
- David Smith
- Claire Taggart
- Kayleigh Haggo
- Will Arnott
- Sally Kidson
- Patrick Wilson
- Stephen McGuire
Para-taekwondo
- Matt Bush (Men’s +80kg)
- Beth Munro (Women’s -65kg)
- Amy Truesdale (Women’s +65kg)
Para-swimming
- Ellie Challis
- Stephen Clegg
- Rhys Darbey
- Bruce Dee
- William Ellard
- Louise Fiddes
- Grace Harvey
- Suzanna Hext
- Eliza Humphrey
- Scarlett Humphrey
- Tully Kearney
- Louis Lawlor
- Poppy Maskill
- Olivia Newman-Baronius
- Megan Neave
- Matthew Redfern
- Rebecca Redfern
- Faye Rogers
- Toni Shaw
- Harry Stewart
- Maisie Summers-Newton
- Alice Tai
- Mark Tompsett
- Cameron Vearncombe
- Callie-Ann Warrington
- Brock Whiston
- Iona Winnifrith
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