Just a few weeks after hosting the Olympic Games, Paris began the final chapter of its sporting summer on Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

French President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the games open at a ceremony outside the stadium, just as he did at the opening of the city’s Olympic Games on July 26.

Against the backdrop of the setting sun, thousands of athletes paraded along the famous Avenue Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris.

Around 50,000 people watched the ceremony from stands around the emblematic square, the largest in Paris and visible from afar thanks to its ancient Egyptian obelisk. Access for athletes in wheelchairs was facilitated by asphalt strips laid along the avenue and above the square.

More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 sports from Thursday to September 8.

As Macron and Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, watched, fighter jets flew over the stage, leaving behind red, white and blue fumes in the colors of the French national flag, before the delegations entered the square in alphabetical order.

Some delegations were huge – more than 250 athletes from Brazil – and others were tiny – less than a handful from Barbados and just three from Myanmar.

Although the show didn’t start until 8pm local time on Wednesday night, fans had gathered under the scorching sun hours earlier to secure the best seats along the way. As performers entertained the crowd on stage, volunteers danced alongside Paralympians waving their national flags and the sky lit up with a postcard-perfect orange glow.

The Ukrainian delegation was loudly cheered and some spectators stood up to applaud.

The French delegation was the last to arrive to cheers from the crowd, who then sang along to popular French songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by the late rocker Johnny Hallyday.

Lucky Love, a French singer who lost his left arm at birth, was accompanied by artists in wheelchairs during his performance. Then, as the national anthem was played, the obelisk lit up in the colors of the French flag.

Organizers had promised another spectacular show to open the Games. This time, too, it took place outside a stadium, but unlike the rainy Olympic opening ceremony on July 26, which featured a boat parade on the Seine, the Paralympic ceremony took place entirely on land.

According to the organizers, more than two million of the total 2.8 million tickets have already been sold for the various Paralympic events.

Tony Estanguet, President of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, described the Paralympians as “great champions with whom we have the honour of being together this evening”.

The first medals to be awarded on Thursday are in taekwondo, table tennis, swimming and track cycling. Athletes will be grouped according to disability levels to ensure as equal a playing field as possible. Only two sports, goalball and bocce, have no Olympic equivalent.

Parsons said the expected large crowds in Paris will mean a lot to the athletes, as many of them competed in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parsons hoped the Paralympics would be “a powerful force for good” amid ongoing global tensions.

The closing ceremony will be held at the Stade de France national stadium. (AP) SCY SCY