We answer the most important questions ahead of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
When do the Paralympics take place?
The 2024 Paralympic Games will begin on August 28 and end on September 8.
There are 23 gold medals to be won in the disciplines of para-athletics, para-cycling, para-swimming and para-taekwondo on the first day of competition at the Paralympics on August 29th.
The final day of the 2024 Paralympics will be September 8, when additional medals will be awarded in para-athletics, para-canoeing, para-swimming and wheelchair basketball.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
With the Paralympics in Paris approaching, Geraint Hughes of Sky Sports News provides a brief history of the Games
When will the opening and closing ceremonies take place – and what will happen?
The Games will officially open on 28 August with the opening ceremony, which will take place outside a stadium for the first time in the competition’s history.
Athletes from over 180 nations will join a parade through the streets of Paris, passing some of the French capital’s most famous landmarks, including the Champs-Elysees and Place de la Concorde.
The ceremony, which is focused on inclusion, will offer the public the opportunity to watch along the route, with official events taking place in front of ticket holders on the Place de la Concorde.
The closing ceremony will take place on September 8th.
Blind football at the Paralympics in Paris will be played near the Eiffel Tower
Where will the Paralympics events take place?
As was the case at previous Paralympics, Olympic venues will also be used to host events.
Para-athletics takes place at the Stade de France, while blind football is played in a specially built stadium, with the Eiffel Tower as a picturesque backdrop.
Para-taekwondo and wheelchair fencing will take centre stage at the magnificent Grand Palais, while Roland Garros once again opens its doors to wheelchair tennis competition.
The Palace of Versailles hosts the para-riders, while in Paris para-triathletes run through the streets and swim in the Seine.
Briton Alfie Hewett will play wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros
What sports are there at the Paralympics?
There are currently 28 Paralympic sports approved by the International Paralympic Committee: 22 of them are held in the summer and six in the winter.
- Para-archery
- Para-athletics
- Para-Badminton
- Blind football
- Bocce
- Para-Canoe
- Para-cycling
- Para-equestrian
- Goalball
- Para-Judo
- Para-powerlifting
- Para-rowing
- Shooting in Parasport
- Sitting volleyball
- Para-swimming
- Para table tennis
- For Taekwondo
- Para-Triathlon
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair fences
- Wheelchair rugby
- Wheelchair tennis
ParalympicsGB failed to qualify for the blind football, goalball and sitting volleyball competitions in Paris and will therefore compete in 19 sports.
Brazil won gold in men’s blind football at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo
Are there any new Paralympic sports?
Two sports made their Paralympic debut at the last two Games: Para-Canoeing and Para-Triathlon in Rio 2016 and Para-Badminton and Para-Taekwondo in Tokyo 2020.
However, this run will end in Paris as the IPC has decided not to add any more sports in 2024.
How many Paralympic gold medals are there in Paris?
There are 549 gold medals to be won in the 22 Paralympic sports in Paris.
Where are the athletes accommodated?
Around 4,400 athletes from 180 delegations will arrive at the Paralympic Village in Paris. Each delegation has been assigned its own area in the village, which covers an area the size of 70 football pitches.
The village has been designed with accessibility in mind. The paths are designed so that wheelchair users can move around easily. In addition, electric vehicles are used to transport the athletes around the village.
Who are Britain’s medal hopes?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
Kadeena Cox reveals how an injury hampered her Paralympics preparations, but she is optimistic she can still win medals
One of Britain’s strongest sports at the Paralympics was cycling, with all 20 members of the team winning at least one medal in Tokyo.
Kadeena Cox won two of her four Paralympic gold medals in Tokyo, where she also competed in athletics. She will restrict herself to cycling this time in Paris, but remains one of ParalympicsGB’s medal favourites.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
Fourteen-year-old table tennis star Bly Twomey is aiming for gold for ParalympicsGB at the upcoming Games in Paris
Dame Sarah Storey became her country’s most successful Paralympian in Japan, taking her career tally to 17 titles, and is also one of the returning stars.
Wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft, bocce champion David Smith and the wheelchair rugby team are just some of those looking to defend their titles, while table tennis player Will Bayley and javelin thrower Hollie Arnold have high hopes of reclaiming their former titles, while triathlete Dave Ellis and wheelchair tennis star Alfie Hewett look to make up for past frustrations.
Hannah Cockroft wants to add to her eighth Paralympic gold medal
Who are the big stars from other countries?
Bebe Vio, the Italian wheelchair fencing star who appeared in the documentary “Rising Phoenix,” is aiming for a third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in Paris.
American Oksana Masters is a six-time Paralympian and has won 17 medals in four sports: para-rowing, para-cross-country skiing, para-biathlon and para-cycling.
French para-triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant was one of the torchbearers at the Olympic Games opening ceremony and hopes to continue to inspire his home crowd.
Norwegian Birgit Skarstein will compete in para-rowing in Paris
Norwegian Birgit Skarstein has won Paralympic and World Championship titles in the women’s PR1 singles, as well as World Cups in Para cross-country skiing. She also made it to the finals of a reality TV dance competition.
The men’s 100m race in the T64 age group will be hotly contested. At the 2023 Paralympic Athletics World Championships in Paris, Italy’s Maxcel Amo Manu defeated reigning Paralympic champion Felix Streng of Germany and silver medalist Sherman Guity of Costa Rica, who won the race at the 2024 World Championships in Kobe.
Sumit Antil is one of India’s most famous Paralympics participants. The 26-year-old will come to Paris in 2024 as the reigning Paralympics champion and two-time world champion in the men’s F64 javelin throw.
