Some of us are probably still mourning the end of the Paris 2024 Olympics, but there’s now just a number of days left before we can all become re-attached to our screens and marvel at some more incredible sport.
That’s right – the Paris 2024 Paralympics are right around the bend. More than 4,400 athletes will be competing this year, across 22 different sports and a whopping 549 events. It’s promising to be a show-stopping 11 days, so here is everything you need to know about the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, including important info on tickets, start date and who is set to compete.
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When do the Paris 2024 Paralympics start?
The Paralympics will kick off on Wednesday August 28 and run until Sunday September 8, 2024.
Tickets and prices
There are still tickets on offer for the Paralympics, including for the Opening Ceremony and sports such as wheelchair basketball, para-swimming and para-athletics.
Events like goalball, sitting volleyball and boccia have tickets for as little as €15, but prices climb up to €700 for the primo seats at the opening ceremony. You can view all the events that still have tickets available here.
When was the first Paralympics?
Neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman sparked the idea for Paralympic Games, but they actually began on a much smaller scale.
Sir Guttman was working at Stoke Mandeville Hospital after the end of World War II, with patients who had suffered spinal injuries, and he began encouraging them to use sport as part of their rehabilitation. In 1948, he set up a competition with other hospitals to coincide with the London Olympics, and the idea was gradually adopted by other spinal injury units in the UK over the following decade.
When it came to Rome in 1960, 400 wheelchair athletes from 23 different countries travelled to compete across eight sports and a total of 57 medal events, and what was known as the ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games is now remembered as the Rome 1960 Paralympics. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be its 17th edition.
Highlights
There are 22 sports included in the Paralympics this year, but the para-athletics, para-basketball, para-swimming and wheelchair tennis tend to be the most popular. Big names to look out for include Team France’s 100m sprinter Timothée Adolphe, Team GB’s Jonnie Peacock, and Team USA’s swimmer Jessica Long.
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