Paris Paralympics 2024 declared open amid grand spectacle at Place de la Concorde

PARIS: French president Emmanuel Macron declared the Paralympic Games open on Wednesday after a glorious ceremony in which competitors were celebrated by joyful volunteers and spectators on a sweet summer night.

The event on the Champs Elysees and the Place de la Concorde was the first Paralympics curtain-raiser to be held outside a stadium.

Security was tight, with some 15,000 law enforcement officers on site, but there was a light summer feeling to the evening as the sun slowly set on the French capital.

Flagbearers Bhagyashri Mahavrao Jadhav and Sumit Antil lead the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony.

“Dear athletes, welcome to the country of love and revolution. Rest assured, tonight, no Storming of the Bastille, no guillotine, because tonight the most beautiful revolution starts — the paralympic revolution,” Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said in his speech.

“It’s a sweet revolution that will change all of us deeply.”

Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Nantenin Keita, Fabien Lamirault, Alexis Hanquinquant and Elodie Lorandi hold up their torches during the opening ceremony.

The live show started at the foot of the obelisk in Place de la Concorde with Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer Chilly Gonzales on the piano.

Artists with disabilities and impairments screamed a countdown and French singer Christine and the Queens delivered a pop rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘Je ne regrette rien’.

The event, directed by Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman and featuring 500 artists, was named “Paradox, from discord to concord”, in a thinly-veiled reference to the Place de la Concorde, where the sold-out ceremony ended in front of more than 50,000 spectators. Agencies

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