2024 Paralympics set to get under way in Paris

The starting gun is about to be fired for the 2024 Paralympics.

On July 28, after seven years of planning, the Games begin in Paris. It's the first time the Paralympics have been held in France.

Around 4,400 athletes from around the world will take part in 22 sports, at the venues that were used earlier in the summer for the Olympic Games.

Over the following 12 days, there will be 549 sporting events ranging from equestrianism to athletics, swimming to table tennis.

Expanding social inclusion and increasing awareness of disabilities are two of the aims for the organizers.

There will also be a record number of medal events for women.

Nantenin Keita, co-captain of France's 2024 Paralympic Squad, told CGTN: "It's (a feeling of) pride, truly. But also a feeling of recognition because since the start of Paris's candidacy, we - the athletes - have been really involved in the making of the Games. So this is now the outcome."

She added: "Representing my country as an athlete, as a flag bearer, as captain - we've come full circle."

During the Olympics, one of the iconic venues was the Eiffel Tower Stadium - built right underneath the famous monument.

It was the arena for beach volleyball - with a loud festival atmosphere - but it will now feel very different when it's used for one particular Paralympic sport that requires silence.

"Two different atmospheres because during the beach volley it's crazy, I think the atmosphere is great with DJs and everything so a lot of activity here," said Augustin Nechad, an event general manager at Paris 2024.

"On the opposite, during the blind football, the athletes play with a ball making a noise inside so of course you cannot be loud in the stadium."‌

There are some similarities between both Games. As was the case with the Olympics, the Paralympics' opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium.

Rather than on the River Seine, it will be held on the world-famous Champs-Elysees boulevard in the center of the French capital.

The athletes will parade from the Arc de Triomphe down to Place de la Concorde.

There is one major difference for the Paralympians who competed at the last Summer Games in Japan. 

This year there will be crowds. Pandemic restrictions meant no spectators could attend Tokyo 2020. This time around some events sold out weeks in advance, including para cycling and para taekwondo.

After the record-breaking Olympic Games, organizers hope to close Paris's long summer of sport with a successful Paralympics in front of packed stadiums once again.

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