Paris has promised a Games to remember as it gets ready to host the 2024 Paralympics.
After the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 had to be held without fans because of the Covid pandemic, and Rio 2016 was dogged by financial issues, the pressure is on Paris to deliver an event to rival or even better the London 2012 Games.
Wednesday’s opening ceremony at 19:00 BST will be focused on the Place de la Concorde, with the first of the 549 gold medals to be awarded the following day.
Action will conclude with the closing ceremony at the Stade de France on Sunday, 8 September.
Nearly two million tickets have been sold, with about 500,000 still available. After the success of the Paris Olympics, organisers say this is only half-time.
The Paris Games will feature a record number of delegations and female athletes. There will also be television coverage in more territories than ever before.
Channel 4 will show the Games in the UK with more than 1,300 hours of live sport airing across Channel 4, More4, Channel 4 Streaming and Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube.
BBC Radio 5 Live will have commentary and updates from key events in Paris as well as dedicated programmes on most evenings. And the BBC Sport website will have live text commentary every day.
“I often say that these will be the most spectacular Paralympic Games ever, and I believe it in my heart,” said International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons.
France has never previously hosted a summer Paralympics, although it did stage the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.
BBC