Paralympics: An ultimate showcase of human spirit ready to unfold in Paris

Courage. Determination. Inspiration. Equality – any idea what these four words stand for? Well, they are the credo of the Paralympics, which is set to replace the Citius, altius, fortius of Olympics on the banks of The Seine from Wednesday when nearly 4500 para athletes from all over the world will be in action for the ultimate showcase of human spirit.

It’s time to embrace the extravaganza, set to be held from 28 August to 8 September – which has created it’s own niche despite being the modern Paralympics being less than 40 years old with the first edition being held in Seoul 1988. Altogether 549 medal events in 22 sports disciplines will be at stake. 

‘’I don’t think we’re in the shadow of the Olympic Games. Our movement is younger. The Olympic Games have been around for almost 130 years while the modern era of the Paralympics only began with Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992, so we’re talking about 40 years ago,’’ remarked Andrew Parsons, President of International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in a recent interview.

The need to back the Paralympics movement comes at a time when the world looks to measure everything through the prism of profit and loss and the revenues from TV rights solely determine whether an event will be telecast or not. An event like the Copa America does not find a taker for beaming in India while the upstart T20 franchise leagues are shown live – and this is where the Paris Paralympics needs the support of fans and sponsors alike.

Recent figures reveal that the day after the closing ceremony of Paris 2024, they had sold 1.4 million of the 2.5 tickets at stake for the Paralympics. In an interview with Le Monde last week, the IPC supremo tried to put up a brace face when he said: ‘’There is a normal trend in the Paralympic Games: We see a ticket sales peak during the last few days of the Olympics and leading up to our opening ceremony. The Paralympics normally have more domestic spectators than international spectators.

‘’During the Olympics, we have seen here again this fantastic atmosphere and the great passion of French people and Parisians. So we do believe that we are going to have full stadia for athletes to compete,’’ the Brazilian president of IPC said.

Interestingly, the ticket sales for London Paralympics and the demand ahead of Tokyo 2020 showed that there is an awareness and growing demand for consumption of Paralympics. In London, the Paralympics had come closest to selling out when 2.72 million tickets (95% of capacity) were sold. Had it not been for the pandemic, then Tokyo 2020 would likely have been the first Paralympic Games to sellout after there were 3.1 million requests for tickets in the first few months of sales.

A spectacular opening ceremony at the heart of the city on the iconic Champs-Elysées and Place de la Concorde is on the cards, and Parsons believes the Paralympics are already having an impact on French society, delivering a transformational legacy.

There will be a record 235 medal events for women and more competition opportunities for athletes with high support needs than ever before. With almost double the number of female athlete slots compared to the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games promises to be the ‘’biggest and most diverse’’ Games yet.

“Hosting the Paralympic Games has acted as a catalyst for the French government and City of Paris to focus more on investment and initiatives that will not only improve the lives of France’s 12 million persons with disabilities but also benefit accessibility, tourists and anyone with accessibility needs. These legacies are already having an impact even before the opening ceremony,” Parsons had told the IPC media in 2023.

Four pillars of Paralympics

Courage: It encompasses the unique spirit of the Paralympic athlete who seeks to accomplish what the general public deems unexpected, but what the athlete knows as a truth.

Determination: The manifestation of the idea that Paralympic athletes push their physical ability to the absolute limit.

Inspiration: When intense and personal affection is begotten from the stories and accomplishments of Paralympic athletes, and the effect is applying this spirit to one's personal life.

Equality: Paralympic Sport acts as an agent for change to break down social barriers of discrimination for persons with an impairment.