Admit it, the past few weeks just haven’t felt the same without the scores of athletes running, diving and jumping all over our screens from dawn til dusk. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games saw GB rake in a load of medals, with Brits glued to our screens for everything from the gymnastics and rowing to the athletics. But the Games aren’t over just yet.
The 2024 Paris Paralympics kick off in the French capital this week, starting with the Opening Ceremony tomorrow night (August 28). With daily coverage of the Games, you’ll be able to get your fill of incredible athletes doing what they do best until September 8 when the Games come to a close.
From blind football to para-judo and wheelchair fencing, here’s everything you need to know about tuning in for your fix of the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
What channel is the 2024 Paris Paralympics on in the UK?
Channel 4 will be showing the most of the Paralympics, with 1,300 hours of coverage on TV, streaming and the Channel 4 Sports YouTube channel.
The BBC will also have an evening highlights show that viewers can watch on TV, though there’ll also be coverage over on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website.
Coverage start time and schedule
This year’s Paralympics will start with Channel 4’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony from 6.30pm on Wednesday September 28.
The rest of the Games is taking place between Thursday August 29 and Saturday September 7, and much of it will be live from 8am to 11pm daily.
In addition to the live coverage, viewers will be able to catch up with 4seven on or More 4 between 9am to 9pm. BBC Radio 5 Live will provide commentary and updates from key events from 4pm each day, with television coverage available to watch most evenings between 8pm and 9pm.
The closing ceremony will be broadcast by Channel 4, with coverage running from 7am to midnight on September 8. You can see Channel 4’s full schedule here.
Channel 4 Paralympics coverage presenters
British actress Rose Ayling-Ellis will be hosting Afternoon Live from inside the Athlete’s Village alongside broadcaster Clare Balding from 3pm to 6pm. The show will feature British Sign Language (BSL) signing, with Ayling-Ellis being the first deaf person to host live sports coverage on TV.
Also on Channel 4’s team are former wheelchair basketball champ Ade Adepitan and five-time Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds. Other presenters taking part include former rugby union player Ed Jackson, racing driver Billy Monger, and comedian Josh Pugh and radio host Vick Hope.
You can see a full list of Channel 4’s presenters here.
Opening Ceremony
The Paralympics opening ceremony kicked things off on Wednesday August 28, with spectular celebrations taking place at some of Paris’s most famous landmarks.
The event began with a parade of 4,400 athletes from Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde, where the main festivities happened. They included a performance from Christine and the Queens, artistic displays by peformers with disabilities or impairments and a choreographed dance by a group of Phyrges, the Paralympic mascot.
More than 4,000 athletes from around the world will compete in 22 sports at this year’s games – hopefully their Paris welcome will be a little less damp than the Olympic opening ceremony in July.
Key Team GB Paralympians
In total, there are 210 athletes competing in GB’s squad across 19 sports – including six returning Tokyo gold medallists.
Some ones to watch include swimmer Ellie Challis, who became Britain’s youngest medallist at the Tokyo games in 2020, and Team GB’s youngest swimmer, 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith. Seven time Paralympic medallist Hannah Cockroft returns in the wheelchair racing, and so does David Weir for his seventh Paralympic Games.
Other Paralympic champions competing include high jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards, shot putter Aled Siôn Davies and javelin thrower Dan Pembroke. Britain’s ‘most successful boccia player’ David Smith will also be returning, as will discus thrower Dan Greaves, who has won a medal at every games since first competing in Sydney in 2000.
On the track, World Championship and Paralympic gold medallist Thomas Young will be competing again, plus sprinter Sophie Hahn.
The importance of the Paralympic Games
With more than 150 nations taking part in 22 sports, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be the 17th edition of the event.
While there have been arguments that a separate Paralympic Games could have a negative impact on our understanding of disabled people’s lived experiences, Channel 4 has been praised for its approach to inclusion, education and the visibility of disability in its coverage both on and off screen.
Involving athletes with a range of disabilities, the Paralympics are an incredible representation of the diversity and abilities of bodies in competition, and continues to be an example of exceptional sporting.
You can read more about the history of the Paralympics here.
Want to know more?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Paralympics ahead of the Opening Ceremony.
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