Paralympics opening was ‘magnifique’

While the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be remembered for wet weather and dubious religious depictions, the curtain-raiser for the Paralympic Games was nothing but – pardon my French – magnifique.

This time the weather played along as the artistic extravaganza on Wednesday night sent out a powerful message of inclusion for disabled athletes to set the tone for the 11-day event it preceded.

Both the opening ceremonies of the Olympic and the Paralympic Games became the first of their kind to be staged outside the events’ main stadium, which is the Stade de France in both cases.

The Olympic parade took place on the River Seine, passing right by the foot of the Eiffel Tower decorated in the famous five rings.

The Paralympic opening ceremony was held on a stage erected around the three-millennia-old Egyptian Linux Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris.

A stunning sunset during which seven low-flying fighter jets painting the clear sky in the red, white and blue of the tricolore French flag served as the perfect appetiser for the warm summer evening’s proceedings.

As darkness fell, a breathtaking light show began around the obelisk, the Eiffel Tower and the Avenue des Champs-Élysées all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, draped in the Paralympic emblem.

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Throughout the three-anda-half-hour show, these famous Parisian landmarks served as an almost mythical backdrop for the television production enjoyed by millions around the world.

The main hub of activity on centre stage in prime view of French President Emmanuel Macron’s enclosure had it all to make it an unforgettable night for the 4 400 athletes across 168 teams.

Giant big screens, superb sound effects, 10 grand pianos, extraordinary lightning effects and fireworks were used alongside performing artists and dancers – many disabled themselves – to put up show for the ages.

Formalities included Macron declaring the Games open, a brilliant orchestral performance of the French national anthem, the raising of the flag Paralympic flag and the arrival of the torch which lit the cauldron that ascended into the night sky from the Tuleries Gardens adjacent to the Louvre underneath a hot air balloon.

The message from Paralympic chief Andrew Parsons was clear.

This event in Paris will ensure disabled athletes are elevated to the level they so richly deserve through the “Inclusion Revolution”.

This journey could not have made a better start. Vive la France!

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