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Let the games begin once more.
The Paralympic Games are set to open Wednesday as some 4,400 athletes with disabilities, everlasting accidents or impairments put together to compete for 549 medals throughout 22 sports activities over 11 days in Paris.
The French capital, which simply hosted the Olympics, once more offers the backdrop for what guarantees to be one other spectacle, with most of the similar venues internet hosting Paralympic competitions.
Historic sq. Place de la Concorde, which hosted skateboarding, breaking and three×3 basketball through the Olympics, will host the opening ceremony.
“We’re on the coronary heart of town,” Worldwide Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons informed The Related Press on Tuesday. ”The symbolism behind that is like town of Paris is giving our athletes a huge hug.”
Equestrian returns to Château de Versailles, which can host para equestrian occasions. The Grand Palais transitions from fencing to wheelchair fencing. Archery venue Invalides will host para archery.
The venue beside the Eiffel Tower, which hosted seashore volleyball through the Olympics, will host blind soccer, an adaption of the sport for visually impaired gamers in groups of 5 with a ball containing rattles.
“We’ve obtained some monstrous iconic websites, and we’re going to get an eyeful,” France’s para triathlon champion, Alexis Hanquinquant, mentioned. “Paris is probably the most stunning metropolis on the earth. I feel we’re going to have some fairly distinctive Paralympic Video games.”
Of the 22 Paralympic sports activities, solely two would not have an Olympic equal — goalball and boccia. In goalball, groups of visually impaired or blind gamers take turns rolling a ball containing bells towards the opposing aim whereas the defending crew’s gamers act as goalkeepers. In boccia, gamers throw or roll leather-based balls as shut as they’ll to a small ball known as a jack.
In comparison with the earlier version of the Paralympics in Tokyo, 10 medal occasions have been added to offer feminine athletes and people with high-support wants extra alternatives.
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Parsons mentioned round 2 million of two.5 million tickets have been bought for the varied occasions, which might be the second highest ever complete variety of spectators at a Paralympics, behind the London Paralympics in 2012.
The Paralympic flame was lit Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London extensively thought of the birthplace of the Paralympic Video games, and was to make its method by way of a torch relay beneath the English Channel to cities throughout France earlier than lighting the cauldron through the opening ceremony on Wednesday.
Effervescent swimmer Katarina Roxon of Kippens, N.L., and dry-witted wheelchair basketball participant Patrick Anderson of Fergus, Ont., will bear the Maple Leaf into Wednesday’s opening ceremonies on the Champs-Elysées on behalf of Crew Canada.
Anticipation has been constructing with Parisians getting back from their summer time holidays – town virtually felt empty initially of the month with many away on the coast. For locals who missed the Olympic motion, the Paralympics are a second probability to catch a few of the pleasure.
The athletes — Paralympians — would be the focus of consideration beginning Thursday within the first day of competitors, when there will likely be medals to be gained in para taekwondo, para desk tennis, para swimming and para biking on the monitor.
As was the case for the Olympics, there’ll medals up for grabs on every of the 11 days of competitors.
Most of the competing athletes have titles to defend.
Para shooter Avani Lekhara, the primary Indian lady to win a pair of medals at a single version of the Paralympics, returns to defend her 10-meter air rifle gold within the SH1 class from Tokyo.
The SH1 class is for rifle shooters with decrease limb impairments like amputations or paraplegia who can maintain their gun with out problem and shoot from a standing or sitting place.
American multi-sport specialist Oksana Masters gained a hand-cycle highway race and time trial on the Tokyo Paralympics, and he or she will likely be wanting so as to add to her profession complete of seven gold and 17 medals general in each summer time and winter occasions.
Para powerlifter Sherif Osman of Egypt goes for his fourth gold medal, and Italian fencer Bebe Vio is vying for her third consecutive gold in wheelchair fencing. After contracting meningitis as a baby, docs amputated each her legs and her forearms to avoid wasting her life.
Brazil is unbeaten in blind soccer going again to the primary event in Athens in 2004, however France harbors hopes of an upset. The hosts kick off in opposition to China and Brazil performs Turkey on Sept. 1, a day earlier than the groups meet for a probably decisive match in Group A.
And there are different storylines.
Visually impaired Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo would be the first transgender lady to compete on the Paralympics when she races within the heats for her classification within the girls’s 400 meters on Sept. 2.
American swimmer Ali Truwit is competing a yr after dropping her decrease leg in a shark assault whereas snorkeling.
Teenage swimmer David Kratochvil is carrying Czech hopes of a medal after dropping his sight due to a severe sickness about 10 years in the past. The 16-year-old Kratochvil used to play ice hockey however switched to the pool, the place he set world information within the 50 and 200 meter backstroke final yr.
Many extra wait to be informed over the following two weeks.
—Fahey contributed from Berlin. AP Deputy World Editor for worldwide sports activities Karl Ritter contributed from Paris.
—with a file from The Canadian Press
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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