2024 Summer Paralympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
XVII Paralympic Games

Host city	Paris, France
Motto	Games Wide Open (French: Ouvrons Grand les Jeux)
Nations	169 (including the NPA and RPT teams)
Athletes	4,463
Events	549 in 22 sports
Opening	28 August 2024
Closing	8 September 2024
Opened by	President Emmanuel Macron
Cauldron	Alexis Hanquinquant Nantenin Keïta Charles-Antoine Kouakou Fabien Lamirault Élodie Lorandi
Stadium	Place de la Concorde (opening ceremony) Stade de France (closing ceremony)
Summer
← Tokyo 2020 Los Angeles 2028 →
Winter
← Beijing 2022 Milano Cortina 2026 →

The 2024 Summer Paralympics (also called the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games) are a huge international sports event. They are the 17th Summer Paralympic Games and are held in Paris, France. The games run from August 28 to September 8, 2024. This is the first time Paris has hosted the Summer Paralympics. France previously hosted the Winter Paralympics in 1992 in Tignes and Albertville.

How Paris Was Chosen

The Bidding Process

The city that hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics also hosts the 2024 Summer Paralympics. This is part of an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee. This agreement started in 2001.

Many cities had pulled out of bidding for past Olympic and Paralympic Games. So, the Olympic Committee decided to choose hosts for both the 2024 and 2028 games at the same time. The final two cities were Los Angeles and Paris. This decision was made on July 11, 2017, in Lausanne.

Paris was the top choice for the 2024 Games. On July 31, 2017, Los Angeles was named the only candidate for the 2028 Games. This meant Paris was confirmed as the host for 2024. Both choices were officially approved on September 13, 2017.

In 2018, there was talk about moving the games one week earlier. This would make the Paralympics happen during school holidays.

Preparing for the Games

Where the Events Take Place

All Paralympic events are held in and around Paris. This includes areas like Saint-Denis, Versailles, and Vaires-sur-Marne.

Grand Paris Area Venues

Central Paris Area Venues

Versailles Area Venues

Outside Paris Venues

Other Important Places

Medals for the Winners

The designs for the medals were shown on February 8, 2024. Like the Olympic medals, the Paralympic medals have a piece of real Eiffel Tower iron. It's shaped like a hexagon and has the Paris 2024 logo.

The back of the medal shows the Eiffel Tower from below. It also has words in braille, a writing system for blind people. The medals have special lines so people can tell them apart by touch.

Volunteers Helping Out

In March 2023, people could apply to be volunteers. By May 2023, 300,000 people had applied! About 45,000 volunteers were chosen to help at the games.

Getting Around Paris

Making transportation easy for people with disabilities was a big focus. The Paris Métro (subway) system has limited access for wheelchairs. Only one of its 16 lines is fully wheelchair-friendly. This has been a concern for disability groups.

Paris invested €1.5 billion to improve access. This money helped local businesses and other transport. For example, €125 million was used to upgrade buses. This makes them able to carry passengers in wheelchairs. They also helped pay for wheelchair-accessible taxis.

Tickets to the Games

On the first day of the games, 2 million out of 2.8 million tickets were sold. Many sports saw record numbers of people watching.

The Torch Relay

The torch relay started on August 24 in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom. This is where the Paralympic Heritage flame was lit. The next day, the torch came to France through the Channel Tunnel.

The torch was split into 12 parts. Each part visited a different city across France. The relay ended on August 28 when the Paralympic cauldron was lit.

The Games Begin

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on August 28, 2024, at the Place de la Concorde. This was the first time a Paralympic opening ceremony happened outside a stadium.

The ceremony was about the human body and history. The Parade of Nations started on the Champs-Élysées. It ended at the Place de la Concorde. The final torchbearers lit the Paralympic cauldron. This cauldron was a ring of 40 LED lights and water sprays. A 30-meter-tall helium sphere, like a hot air balloon, rose into the air. This reminded people of the first hot air balloon flight in 1783.

French singer Christine and the Queens performed. Important people like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron attended. President Macron officially opened the games.

Sports and Events

The list of sports for the 2024 Summer Paralympics was announced in January 2019. There were no changes from the 2020 Summer Paralympics, keeping 22 sports. The schedule was released on July 8, 2022, with 549 events.

A record 235 medal events are for women. This is eight more than in 2020. With mixed-gender events, the number of female athletes is expected to be twice as many as in Sydney 2000.

The IPC thought about adding new sports like golf, karate, para dance sport, and powerchair football. They also considered bringing back CP football (football 7-a-side) and sailing. CP football was considered but rejected because not enough women played it.

In January 2021, wheelchair basketball was almost removed from the games. This was because of issues with its classification rules. But after changes were made, it was put back into the program in September 2021.

Calendar of Events

The International Paralympic Committee has approved the final schedule, and dates for the upcoming Summer Paralympics games were released on 2 February 2023.

All times and dates use Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medal events

CC

Closing ceremony

August/September 2024		August				September								Events
		28th Wed	29th Thu	30th Fri	31st Sat	1st Sun	2nd Mon	3rd Tue	4th Wed	5th Thu	6th Fri	7th Sat	8th Sun
Ceremonies		OC											CC	—
Boccia			●	●	●	2	6	●	●	3				11
Football 5-a-side						●	●	●		●		1		1
Goalball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2				2
Para archery			●	●	2	2	2	1	1	1				9
Para athletics				14	18	19	13	24	15	19	16	22	4	164
Para badminton			●	●	●	2	14							16
Para canoe											●	5	5	10
Para cycling	Road								19	6	4	5		34
	Track		4	5	4	4								17
Para equestrian								3	2		1	5		11
Para judo										5	5	6		16
Para powerlifting									4	4	4	4	4	20
Para rowing				●	●	5								5
Para swimming			15	14	15	14	13	15	12	13	15	15		141
Para table tennis			●	2	5	3	●	1	3	5	5	7		31
Para taekwondo			3	4	3									10
Para triathlon						7	4							11
Shooting para sport				3	2	2	1	2	2	1				13
Sitting volleyball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1		2
Wheelchair basketball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	2
Wheelchair fencing								4	4	2	4	2		16
Wheelchair rugby			●	●	●	●	1							1
Wheelchair tennis				●	●	●	●	●	1	2	2	1		6
Daily medal events		0	22	42	49	60	54	50	63	63	57	75	14	549
Cumulative total		0	22	64	113	173	227	277	340	403	460	535	549
August/September 2024		August				September								Events
		28th Wed	29th Thu	30th Fri	31st Sat	1st Sun	2nd Mon	3rd Tue	4th Wed	5th Thu	6th Fri	7th Sat	8th Sun

Medal Count

2024 Summer Paralympics medal table

Countries Taking Part

Many countries send athletes to the Paralympics. Eritrea, Kiribati, and Kosovo are competing for the first time. Some countries are returning after missing previous games. These include Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.