Paris 2024 Paralympic Opening Ceremony: Emotional and Impressive Performances

At exactly 8:00 p.m. on August 28 (1:00 a.m. on August 29, Vietnam time) at Concorde Square in Paris, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games began with the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, President of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee Tony Estanguet, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Andrew Parson, along with many leaders, sports ministers of various countries, government officials and representatives of international organizations.

The welcoming sound and light show and choreography performed by disabled artists in vibrant, colorful costumes, along with dancers dressed in black, on a white stage, highlighted the event's theme: Inclusion Day for People with Disabilities and Mixed Emotions.

The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, which is also the 17th Paralympic Games, opened with a vibrant parade of 168 delegations of athletes from countries and territories, led by the Afghan delegation and ended with a strong contingent from the host country France.

There are a total of more than 4,400 athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Paralympics, including 1,983 female athletes. These are numbers that have never been achieved in the 60-year history of the Paralympic Games.

China, which has topped the medal table at every Paralympics since Athens 2004, also has the largest delegation at this year's Games, with 282 athletes.

Host country France with 239 athletes, although only third after China and Brazil, is the leading country in the European Union (EU) with the largest number of athletes participating in this year's Olympic season.

The Vietnamese Paralympic Sports Delegation to the 2024 Paris Paralympics has 14 members, including 4 delegation officials, 3 coaches and 7 athletes who will compete in weightlifting, swimming and athletics.

After the soft, unique and vibrant dance performances by disabled artists and dancers following the ideas of Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman, the festival became more subdued with videos sharing the experiences, concerns, and aspirations of disabled people.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee, encouraged the athletes and emphasized: "Like the Olympic athletes, with each of your victories, a whole country will be proud. But you are stronger in that with each of your victories, a whole country will change. With each of your victories, the world will progress. Because every emotion you make us experience carries a message that will never fade: your power is limitless, so stop imposing on yourself. This is the Paralympic revolution."

Andrew Parson, President of the International Para Sports Commission (IPC), said: "Athletes are not here to participate, but to compete and break world records. They are also here to surpass their own glory. They are there to challenge stigma, change behaviour and redefine the boundaries of what people think is possible."

As the medley of the French National Anthem and the official song of the 17th Paralympic Games ended, the French flag and the Paralympic flag were raised.

Two Paralympians, Sandrine Martinet and Arnaud Assoumani, together with judge and coach Franck Bornerand, took the oath on behalf of their colleagues and pledged to respect and promote the Paralympic values: determination, equality, inspiration and courage.

Finally, the Paralympic torch relay was very touching. After traveling to many provinces of France, the Paralympic flame was passed through the hands of many disabled athletes to the cauldron, placed in the Tuileries garden.

This cauldron has been extinguished since the end of the Olympic Games and now it shines again in the sky of Paris, every night, until the end of the Paralympics, on September 9.

The Agitos symbol (Latin for "I move"), consisting of three commas of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, also continues to shine on the dome of the Arc de Triomphe, and the five Olympic rings still sparkle on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

For three hours, the heart of the City of Light transformed into a grand stage and the event was broadcast live on France 2, allowing 300 million viewers around the world to watch the opening ceremony live.

Not to mention the more than 50,000 spectators in the stands at Concorde Square, along with 15,000 spectators standing along Elysée Avenue, who were directly immersed in the festival atmosphere and saw with their own eyes the quintessence of world disabled sports.

Starting today, August 29, athletes will officially enter the matches until September 8. They will compete in 549 matches in 22 sports at 18 venues. The competition venues are still in the most beautiful places in Paris, just like the Olympic Games.

Not only will the exciting equestrian competitions at the Palace of Versailles, armchair fencing and taekwondo at the Grand Palais, blind football at the Eiffel Tower stadium or swimming at the La Défense aquatics palace… but the fan zones and the festive atmosphere will also continue to enliven the streets of Paris during the 2024 Paralympics.

Mr. Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee, affirmed that "if the Olympic Games are the first leg, the Paralympics are the second leg" with an attraction no less than the Olympics.

Such was the appeal of the event that by the opening day, 2 million tickets had been sold, creating another miracle in Paralympic history, and it didn't stop there as more tickets were being sold.

Organisers are aiming to sell 2.5 million tickets and IPC President Andrew Parson hopes the packed stadiums will inspire and motivate athletes with disabilities to give their all.

He also said 300 million people will watch the Paralympic opening ceremony on live television, not to mention the 4.25 billion people around the world who will sit in front of their screens to watch the matches over the next 11 days.

The spectacular and impressive 2024 Paralympic opening ceremony ended with a vibrant song"Born to Be Alive"performed by singer Christine and the Queens, along with all the artists, against a backdrop of colorful fireworks.

The end of the festival is also the beginning of the matches. Wishing the 4,400 athletes, including Vietnamese athletes, to achieve the best results, not to be champions but to surpass themselves, to dedicate to the audience and the public around the world beautiful competitions imbued with the spirit of an "Inclusive Olympics", as desired by the Paris 2024 Paralympic Organizing Committee.