The Paralympic Games are set to begin in Paris.

PARIS (AP) — Just weeks after hosting the Olympics, Paris opened the 2024 Paralympics on Wednesday with a nearly four-hour opening ceremony in the heart of the city.

Against a backdrop of sunset, thousands of athletes marched down the famous Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the Paralympic Games open.

Some 50,000 people watched the opening ceremony in stands set up around the famous square, which is the largest in Paris and can be seen from afar thanks to its ancient Egyptian obelisk. Access for athletes in wheelchairs was facilitated by strips of asphalt running along the street and over the square.

More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 Sports From Thursday until September 8. Organizers say more than 2 million people will attend. From 2.8 million Tickets for various Paralympic events are sold out.

The opening ceremony took place outside the stadium, just as it had when the city’s Olympic Games opened on July 26. Fighter jets flew overhead, leaving red, white and blue fumes in the colours of the French national flag, before the delegations entered the arena in alphabetical order.

Some delegations were large — more than 250 athletes from Brazil — and some were small — less than a handful of athletes from Barbados and just three from Myanmar.

The Ukrainian delegation received a standing ovation, and some of the audience stood to applaud them.

Flag bearers Steve Serio and Nicky Nieves The American delegation led. The French arrived last to cheers from the crowd, who then sang French folk songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by the late Johnny Hallyday.

During the show, directed by Thomas Joly, who also directed the Olympic Opening Ceremony, singers, dancers and musicians with and without disabilities performed seamlessly on stage, reflecting the theme of inclusion and overcoming physical differences. French singer Lucky Love, who lost his left arm at birth, was joined by performers in wheelchairs. Other performances included dancers on crutches.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said he hoped the Paris Paralympics would mark the start of an “inclusive revolution” outside of sport.

“The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will demonstrate what people with disabilities can achieve at the highest level when barriers to success are removed,” he said in his speech. “The fact that these opportunities will largely only exist in sport in 2024 is shocking. It is proof that we can and must do more to promote disability inclusion – whether on the playing field, in the classroom, in the concert hall or in the boardroom.”

As the ceremony concluded, the Paralympic flame was carried into the area by former wheelchair tennis champion Michael Jeremias, who was surrounded on stage by dozens of torchbearers. Five French Paralympians lit the Olympic cauldron, which was designed to look like hot air balloon And it shone like gold in the night.

The Paralympic flag was raised high into the night sky and its emblem adorned the top of the Arc de Triomphe some 3 kilometres (2 miles) away.

Although the show on Wednesday night began at 8 p.m. local time, fans had gathered hours earlier under the blazing sun to grab the best seats along the route. As performers entertained the crowds on stage, volunteers danced alongside Paralympic athletes waving their national flags, and the sky lit up in a perfect orange glow.

Tony Estanguet, President of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, described the Paralympic athletes as “great champions who we are honoured to be with tonight.”

the The first medals were distributed on Thursday. Participants will be divided into groups according to disability levels to ensure equal opportunities as much as possible.

The closing ceremony will be held at the Stade de France, the national stadium.

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Associated Press writer Tom Nouvian in Paris contributed to this report.

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Paralympic Games AP: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games