Last night in Paris, the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games took place, where 4.400 athletes and 182 delegations participated.
The ceremony, like the one for the Olympic Games (OG) held from July 26th to August 11th, was conducted outside a stadium, on the Place de la Concorde, and along the Champs-Elysses, choreographed by Swedish artist Alexander Ekman, with Thomas Jolly as the artistic director, just as he was for the OG.
Jolly stated that the ceremony is named “Paradox.”
“Setting the city as the backdrop for this ceremony is already a paradox because the city is not fully adapted for people with disabilities,” Jolly remarked.
The ceremony began at 8:00 p.m. and lasted around three hours, in front of approximately 50.000 spectators, featuring a parade of sports delegations along the famous Parisian avenue.
The Paralympic torch, lit in England, where the Games originated after World War II, arrived in France on August 25th via the Channel Tunnel and traveled across the country until the opening ceremony when the cauldron was lit.
Alongside Paralympic athletes, the torch will also be carried by Chinese actor Jackie Chan, a martial arts expert.
The Paralympic cauldron was lit by Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who was the only French medalist in athletics at the Paris Olympics, and Ryadh Sallem, a member of the para-rugby team
The cauldron, the same as for the OG, is located in the Tuileries Garden near the Louvre Museum, and every evening, it will be lifted by a balloon to be visible across the city.
Exactly 88 Russian Paralympic athletes will compete at the Paralympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag. In addition to the 88 Russian competitors, eight Belarusian athletes will also participate under a neutral flag.
Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony, and these measures were introduced due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin recently announced that up to 25.000 police officers and gendarmes and 10.000 private security agents would be deployed during the Paralympic Games, which will be held in Paris for the first time.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) competes in three sports
BiH will be represented in three sports at the Paralympic Games: sitting volleyball, para-swimming, and shooting.
The BiH sitting volleyball team will compete in Group A, alongside France, Egypt, and Kazakhstan.
Representing our country in Paris are Asim Medic, Armin Sehic, Ermin Jusufovic, Adnan Manko, Ismet Godinjak, Dzevad Hamzic, Edin Djino, Mirzet Duran, Stevan Crnobrnja, Sabahudin Delalic, Nizam Cancar, and Safet Alibasic.
In para-swimming, Ismail Barlov will compete in two events, the 150-meter individual medley and the 50-meter breaststroke.
In shooting, Ervin Bejdic will compete in three events: P1 – 10-meter air pistol, P3 – 25-meter pistol, and P4 – 50-meter pistol.
“We are proud of our athletes and confident that they will represent our country with dignity at the Paralympic Games in Paris, with the support of the entire nation. We wish them great success and hope they achieve excellent results,” stated the Paralympic Committee of BiH.
The Paralympic Games will last until September 8th, marking the first Paralympic Games to be held in Paris.
Photo: Screenshot/ AP video
