No competition has been planned for August 28, so that all athletes can make the most of the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony (Photo: Paris 2024)
Paris 2024 is unveiling the competition schedule for the Paralymic Games taking place from August 28 to September 8 in 2024, featuring a densely packed 11-day programme in which 549 medal events will be contested across 22 exhilarating Para sports.
This schedule is the result of a lengthy collaboration involving actors in the public domain, alongside Paris 2024 and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the sporting movement and in particular, the International Federations as well as the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The Interministerial Delegation to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and transport operator Île-de-France Mobilités, have been important contributors to the discussions, says a press release by the organising committee.
No competition has been planned for August 28, so that all athletes can make the most of the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. The release says 11 days of sensational sport will begin from August 29 and go on until September 8, the day of the Closing Ceremony. In total, there will be 269 competition sessions along with 3.4 million tickets on sale, the most ever for a Paralympic Games, it adds.
Day 1 of competition
A very strong start to the Games has been predicted, the press statement says that 11 out of the 22 sports will be contested on the very first day of the competition, on August 29. The same day will see the first Paralympic champions crowned in Para swimming, Para taekwondo and Para cycling (track).
The Para swimming and Para athletics events will be held across almost the entire length of the Games. Track and field events in Para athletics will be held at Stade de France from August 30, to September 7, with the finale, the Para athletics marathon taking place on September 8, where athletes will depart from La Courneuve and finish at Les Invalides. Para swimming events at Paris La Défense arena will take place from August 29 to September 7.
Weekends of wonder
The first weekend of the Games from August 31 to September 1 will be packed with 16 sports competitions. Events in Para rowing and Para canoe will be concentrated across the two weekends from August 30 to September 1 and September 6 to 8, as per the schedule. The press statement says that the purpose of this arrangement is to lend greater visibility to these two sports and make it easier for numerous spectators to get to Vaires-sur-Marne, the spectacular setting for these two competitions: from August 30 to September 1 for Para rowing; and from September 6 to 8 for Para canoe.
In addition, the competition format for the five team sports at the Games (blind football, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and goalball) has been harmonised with eight nations competing in each of the sport’s respective medal events.
A densely packed programme
The final day of competition on September 8, which will also be the day of the Closing Ceremony, will climax with medal events in four sports – Para athletics marathon, wheelchair basketball, Para canoe, and Para powerlifting.
All the sporting competitions taking place during these 11 days will finish no later than 11.30pm each day.
The statement says that the 549 events, spread across 269 sessions will be held in awe-inspiring settings: Les Invalides for Para archery; the Champ de Mars, at the foot of the Eiffel tower, for blind football, Para judo and wheelchair rugby; and the grounds of the Château de Versailles for Para equestrian. These spectacular surroundings, in addition to the densest ever competition schedule, will make for a one-of-a -kind experience for everybody involved in the Games.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will feature a record number of medal events and athlete slots for women, as well as more competition opportunities for athletes with high support needs. The Games will include a record 235 medal events for women, eight more than at Tokyo 2020. There will also be at least 1,859 slots for female Para athletes, almost double the 990 women that took part at Sydney 2000. The overall number of participating females could also increase further as there are 339 gender-free slots for the Games.
The Competition schedule of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be revealed in late 2022, say the organisers, adding that the session-by-session events schedule for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games is subject to change, right up until the conclusion of the Games.
