Topline

The Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony on Wednesday will make history, much like the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It will be the first Games to be held outside the walls of a stadium, with athletes parading down the historic Champs-Elysées. While the performers have not yet been announced, organisers are promising a show that has “never been seen before”.

Key Facts

How can I watch the opening ceremony?

Coverage of the Opening Ceremony begins at 1:00 p.m. EDT live on USA Network and will be streamed on Peacock. The Opening Ceremony begins at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Peacock is the official streaming service for the Games. It will livestream all of the events and offer full replays of the event for those who are unable to watch in real time. The Paralympics will also be broadcast live on NBC, CNBC and USA Network.

Who are the Team Usa Flag carriers?

Nicky Nieves, a current volleyball gold medalist, will be the bearer of the women’s flag for Team USA. Steve Serio, a current basketball gold medalist, will be the bearer of the men’s flag.

What happens during the opening ceremony?

Like the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games will be the first to be held outside a stadium. However, athletes will not be part of a boat procession. Instead, they will make their way down the Champs-Elysées to the ceremony at the Place de la Concorde. The event will “showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values ​​they embody,” said Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies. While the names of the performers have not yet been announced, Jolly promised “performances unlike any other” in a “spectacle that will unite spectators and television viewers around the world around the unique spirit of the Paralympic Games.”

Main background

The Paralympics began in 1946 at a veterans’ hospital north of London in Stoke Mandeville, and the first official Games were held in Rome in 1960. The Paralympics have historically been held about two weeks after the Olympic Games, and since 1988 the Games have been held in the same city and venue as the Olympic Games. Paralympic athletes compete in sports with Olympic equivalents such as paratriathlon and wheelchair rugby, basketball and tennis. Goalball and boccia are the only two sports unique to the Paralympics. Goalball was created specifically for athletes with visual impairments and is played between two teams on a field with a net at each end. Teams score by rolling a ball into their opponent’s goal. All players must wear an eye mask to ensure fair competition, and the inside of the ball contains bells so that players can track it by sound. Boccia is played by athletes with severe disabilities that affect their motor skills. Each player earns points by rolling a leather ball as close as possible to a small white ball, called a jack.

Surprising fact

Athletes with visual impairments who compete in certain events, such as paracycling and paratriathlon, work with sighted guides to help them during the Games. Since 2012, the guides have also been awarded medals.