Paris Summer Paralympics 2024
Everyone was waiting for this moment, and now the countdown has begun for Summer Paralympics 2024. Each and every player is ready and eager to play in the big event. Audiences are also ready to cheer and scream.
Paris, “The City of Light,” is organizing the Olympics and Summer Paralympics 2024, multi-sports event this time. It is here, on the Paralympic stage, that stories go beyond victory laps into resilient tales of determination and extraordinary athletes challenging the true meaning of strength.
This year, the Paris Summer Paralympics 2024 Games sports program will include 22 sports: athletics, archery, badminton, blind football, boccia, canoe, cycling, equestrian, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.
The Paris Summer Paralympics 2024 Games will take place between August 28 and September 8.
This blog is not about the final scores. We’re going to go deeper—from the beginning to the real stories, that make a tapestry of the Paralympics. We are going to meet the athletes who inspire us not by being athletic but because of their journeys, making them champions in the very real sense of the word.
Origin of the Paralympic
Did you know the meaning of the word “Paralympic”? The term “Para” means alongside or parallel, and the word “Olympics”, so the meaning is “Parallel Olympics”.
The birth of the Paralympics was in 1960, in Rome. The event has grown from 400 athletes and 23 countries to over 4,000 athletes and 160 countries. In addition, in 1976, a Winter Paralympics Game was added that has continued to happen every four years.
Paralympics are created for athletes of six categories (amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, visually impaired, spinal injuries, and others), the Paralympics are held in the same four-year cycle as the Olympics, but hosted one month after the Olympics. The venues (such as the athlete village and sports facilities) are also the same as the Olympics, as well as the sponsors.
The symbol of the Paralympics
Paralympic Games Logo and Symbol
The Paralympic symbol, also known as the Agitos, is the visual representation for the Paralympic Movement and consists of three colors; red, blue and green.
Definition: The Paralympic symbol consists of three elements: red, blue, and green -the three colors that are most widely represented in national flags around the world.
Meaning of the Agitos: The three elements of the Agitos (from the Latin meaning “I move”) encircling a central point symbolize motion and emphasize the role of the Paralympic Movement in bringing athletes together from all corners of the world to compete and achieve sporting excellence. The symbol also emphasizes the fact that Paralympic athletes are constantly inspiring and exciting the world with their performances: always moving forward and never giving up.
What’s the purpose and importance of the Paralympic games?
Although many people consider the athletes competing in the Paralympics to be an “inspiration” because of their disability, that is not the sole purpose. If they happen to inspire, that is secondary and only due to their performance and unwavering athletic drive.
The Paralympic Games are primarily an opportunity for the world’s top disabled athletes to compete alongside their peers and show their skills on an international platform. They are also a reminder that people with disabilities have the right to participate in adaptive sports and recreational activities at all levels. It is a great platform for them to show the world that they are also capable of doing the same things as others.
The importance of the Paralympics games is not only to raise awareness but also to empower individuals with disabilities.
Ultimately, the Paralympics represent much more than a competition in sport. They stand as a very strong platform to celebrate human potential, to promote inclusion, and to make the world a fair place.
The Summer Paralympics 2024 is not only just competition but also showcasing the human potential to the world and spark for positive change.
Sports at the Summer Paralympics 2024
Summer Paralympics 2024 Games, Paris, France
The athlete will compete in 549 medal events across 22 sports. Two sports that only exist in the Paralympics are boccia and goalball.
Since 2012, Paralympic Games have also awarded medals in para athletics, para triathlon, and para cycling and para triathlon. Each Paralympic sport has its own rules, which help ensure fair and equal competition.
Para-swimming: no prostheses are allowed during the competition. Players have to go in the water without any medical assistance accessories.
Para athletics, para-swimming and para table tennis: Only three disciplines are open to athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Boccia is a sport played in wheelchairs by athletes with severe motor impairments.
Wheelchair basketball is the same as the Olympics; with the 3.05 meters from the ground, there is no difference.
Wheelchair tennis is almost the same, the only change is that Paralympic players are allowed to let the ball bounce twice.
Blind football and goalball are played with the ball filled with bells to make some noise so players can locate the ball.
Para judo is practiced exclusively by visually impaired athletes.
Para taekwondo is for athletes with upper-limb disabilities.
Sitting volleyball players play without their chairs.
Para shooting The Paris 2024 Paralympics will see up to 160 athletes from around the world showcasing their talent and technique.
Para badminton is a fast-paced racquet sport.
Para canoe is the fierce battle of the fastest paddlers on flat water. Sixty slots – 30 for men and 30 for women – for Paris 2024
Para rowing at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in September serves as the largest qualification event.
Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with disabilities.
Paralympic powerlifting, also known as para powerlifting and para-lifting, is an adaptation of the sport of powerlifting for athletes with disabilities.
Para-cycling is the sport of cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disabilities.
Para-badminton is a variant of badminton for athletes with a range of physical disabilities.
Para archery. A total of 140 athletes will compete in nine medal events at Paris in 2024.
Inspiring stories of the Paralympic
When it comes to sports, people with disabilities were not considered to even have the right to take part in them. But now it’s changing, people with disabilities have been getting more attention and appreciation. This even had an influence on the way these people were treated and how others interacted with them.
McKenzie Coan, Swimmer
McKenzie was diagnosed at just 19 days old with a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, otherwise known as brittle bone disease. This condition causes McKenzie’s bones to break easily, and as a result of this diagnosis, doctors said that McKenzie would never walk, never sit upright, never talk, and maybe not even live a very long life. However, McKenzie’s parents were determined to not have their daughter live a life dictated by other people’s expectations.
Fast forward four years to 2012, and making it through every obstacle along the way, McKenzie qualified for the 2012 London Games by 0.11 of a second in the 400m freestyle. At her first Paralympic Games, McKenzie made it to the finals, leaving with 6th-place finish.
In 2016, McKenzie qualified for five events at the Rio Games. During the competition, McKenzie won three golds and a silver.
McKenzie’s journey captures the very important meaning of believing anything is possible.
McKenna Dahl, shooting
Born with amyloplastic arthrogryposis, doctors told her parents that she would never walk or talk. Even though she was originally a wheelchair basketball player, she decided to pursue her passion for shooting, which she had fallen in love with at the age of 6.
Her dedication and commitment to this sport made her the first US woman to win a medal in the sport at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016.
Nishad Kumar, men’s high jump T47
India’s Nishad Kumar equaled his own personal best, also an Asian record, with a 2.06-meter jump and claimed the silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 event at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Nishad Kumar is inspired by his mother, a state-level volleyball player and a discus thrower. At the age of six, his right hand was severed accidentally by a grass-cutting machine on his family farm. He finished his degree at DAV College, Chandigarh. He later pursued his higher education at the Himachal Pradesh University. He took up the sport of para-athletics in 2009.
In 2020 Tokyo Paralympic, Nishad Kumar won the silver medal for the first time in men’s high jump.
Conclusion
Paris Summer Paralympics 2024 is calling. Whether you’re participating in person, watching from home or following online, don’t miss this chance to witness the energy of human potential unfolding before your eyes. Become a part of the global audience and watch these humble Paralympians share their remarkable stories with everyone. We shall enthuse diversity, embrace community and revel in the legacy of the Games!
