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The 2024 Summer Olympics are officially behind us and Paris was a stark reminder of why the Olympics are such a special event. There is still a long wait until the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina and an even longer wait until LA28, but there is only a very short wait until the next Olympic Games. The Paralympics begin on August 28, when the world will once again come together for two weeks of exciting competition.
When do the Paralympics start?
The Paralympics opening ceremony will begin on August 28 with a parade on the historic Champs-Elysées and Place de la Concorde. The ceremony will begin in Paris at 8 p.m. or 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. According to the Olympic Committee, 184 delegations with over 4,000 athletes will be in attendance.
The Paralympics have their origins in an event created in 1948 for wounded British veterans of the Second World War. The Paralympics began properly in 1960. Since then, the Paralympics have been held at the same time as every Olympic Games. 22 events will be held in Paris. The closing ceremony will take place on September 8th.
How to follow the Paralympics
NBC has been broadcasting the U.S. Olympics since 1964, meaning NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service is the easiest way to catch all the action. Peacock Premium is available for $7.99/month, or you can get an annual subscription for $79.99 and save just over $1.00 per month. Students can also sign up for Peacock for $1.99/month for 12 months and get verified via SheerID. If you have cable, USA, NBC and CNBC are broadcasting select events.
Another option is to sign up for DirectTV Stream, which offers live and on-demand satellite broadcasts without any hardware. Plans start at $59.99/month, which is $10 off the regular price. Fubo is another option for sports fans. It includes over 100 channels of live sports and TV, and plans start at $79.99/month.
What sports are there at the Paralympics?
The Paralympics include sports such as para-archery and blind football, as well as wheelchair versions of fencing, basketball, rugby and tennis. There are medal-winning events on each day of competition. You can view the competition schedule here. You can read about each event below, with information summarised from the official Olympic website.
Para-archery
Para archery was part of the first Paralympic Games and has been a staple ever since. Athletes can compete standing or sitting and use recurve or compound bows. The W1 class is for athletes with limited muscle strength or range of motion, while the Open class is for athletes with normal arm function but limited mobility. View the full schedule.
Para-athletics
Para athletics is the largest Paralympic event, with athletes with any type of disability competing. The most similar discipline is track and field, and it includes events such as running, wheelchair racing, throwing and jumping. See the full schedule.
Para-Badminton
Para-badminton players compete in pairs or individually. There are six classes, including four standing classes and two wheelchair classes. Athletes compete for 21 points per match. The best of three win the overall match. The full schedule can be found here.
Blind football
Blind football is an adaptation of football for athletes with partial or total visual impairment. To ensure fair competition, all athletes wear eye protection regardless of their degree of visual impairment. Each team consists of four players and a goalkeeper with or without visual impairment. Athletes rely on their hearing; the ball makes a clattering sound and the goalkeeper indicates the direction. Since sound plays an important role in the game, spectators are asked to keep noise to a minimum. The full schedule can be found here
Bocce
Bocce is one of two sports that does not have an Olympic counterpart. Athletes play individually or in teams of two or three. Athletes roll a red or blue ball toward a white ball in the court, called a jack. The team that gets closest to the ball wins. There are four categories based on the type of handicap. See the full schedule here.
Para-Canoe
Paracanoe is similar to its Olympic counterpart and two types of boats are used. There is a canoe and a va’a, which is derived from a type of boat used in Polynesian countries such as Tahiti. There will be six kayak and four va’a events and there are three classifications depending on the athlete’s impairment. View the full schedule.
Paracycling (road and track)
Para cycling includes road and track cycling. Road cycling includes everything from standard bicycles to tandems, tricycles and handbikes. The three road disciplines are road racing, time trials and relays. Track cycling includes time trials, individual pursuit and tandems. View the full road map and the full track map.
Para-equestrian
Para-equestrianism is a dressage competition and was first held at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. There are team and individual events and eligible disabilities range from paraplegia to visual impairment. View the full schedule.
Goalball
Goalball is a sport played only at the Paralympics and has no Olympic counterpart. Originally developed for injured World War II veterans, it was first played in Toronto in 1976. Two teams of three players compete on a volleyball court. Athletes roll a ball toward a court-wide goal and the other team attempts to block it. Participating athletes are visually impaired and wear black-out eye masks to ensure fair play. The full schedule can be found here.
Para-Judo
Parajudo has the same rules as its Olympic counterpart and is for athletes with visual impairments. There are two categories for athletes with partial or total blindness. The goal is to knock the opponent to the ground and each bout lasts four minutes. Check out the full schedule.
Para-powerlifting
Para powerlifting consists of a bench press competition where there is no disability division. Instead, athletes are divided into weight classes. There are 20 events, 10 for men and 10 for women. Eligible disabilities include cerebral palsy and paraplegia. The full schedule can be found here.
Para-rowing
Like Olympic rowing, para-rowing is 2,000m races. There are individual events and races in teams of two and four. Eligible disabilities include orthopedic disabilities, paraplegia, quadriplegia, hemiplegia, cerebral palsy, neurological disabilities and visual impairment. The full schedule can be found here.
Shooting Parasport
Shooting sports for the disabled consists of rifle and pistol competitions. Competitions are held in standing, kneeling or prone positions, with wheelchair users also included. In the finals, the competitors with the lowest scores are eliminated until only two remain. The full schedule can be found here.
Sitting volleyball
In sitting volleyball, players sit on the ground on a smaller court with a lower net and move around the court using their arms. Each team consists of six players and games are played in a best-of-five format to 25 points. The low-to-the-ground game makes for a fast-paced game. You can find the full schedule here.
Para-swimming
Para swimming consists of breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley. The competition is open to all types of disabilities, with classifications based on physical, visual or mental disability. The full schedule can be found here.
Para table tennis
Para table tennis is unique in that it predates its Olympic counterpart, first taking place in Rome in 1960. There are 11 classifications based on disability and athletes compete in five sets for 11 points. View the full schedule.
For Taekwondo
Para-taekwondo is only the second contact sport to be included in the Paralympics after judo. Competitions consist of one round, with points awarded for hits to the upper body. The sport is designed for participants with upper limb disabilities and there are five weight classes for men and five for women. View the full schedule.
Para-Triathlon
In the para-triathlon, athletes swim 750m, cycle 20km and run 5km, half the distance of an Olympic triathlon. There are several classes, including a seated class where athletes complete the cycling and running components using a hand bike and racing wheelchair. Visually impaired athletes compete with a guide, while standing athletes can use prosthetic legs. The full schedule can be found here.
Wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball players compete on a court the same size as its Olympic counterpart, including a basket at the same height. Athletes dribble by bouncing or passing the ball after every two kicks from the wheelchair. View the full schedule.
Wheelchair fences
Like Olympic fencing, wheelchair fencing consists of the disciplines of foil, épée and sabre. The matches are very fast-paced because fencers cannot retreat or advance. Instead, the wheelchair remains in a stationary position. Sensors track points and, depending on the discipline, fencers wear an apron over their legs so that missed attacks are not counted. The full schedule can be found here.
Wheelchair rugby
To get an idea of how intense wheelchair rugby is, consider the other name it is known by: Murderball. Athletes compete with a modified volleyball rather than the traditional oblong rugby ball, and participants’ wheelchairs often collide. Wheelchair rugby contains elements of basketball, rugby and handball. What makes this game unique is that teams can be mixed gender. View the full schedule.
Wheelchair tennis
Wheelchair tennis made its Paralympics debut in Barcelona in 1992. The rules are very similar to Olympic tennis, except that the ball is allowed to bounce twice before being returned. Otherwise, the court and net have the same dimensions. There are two classifications: Quad athletes have upper and lower body impairments, while Open athletes have full upper body mobility. The full schedule can be found here.
