First medals up for grabs as action begins at Paris Paralympics

[Music] vivify news first medals up for grabs as action begins at Paris par Olympics medals are up for grabs in track cycling swimming table tennis and Taekwondo when the action begins on Thursday at the Paris par Olympics which opened in a colorful and hope-filled ceremony ahead of 11 days of competition the action also begins in volleyball wheelchair basketball wheelchair rugby badminton archery gold ball a form of football for the visually impaired enoa a version of bulls French president Emanuel macron declared the games open on Wednesday during a ceremony in a bomi placed a law Concord in central Paris the first time a par Olympic opening ceremony has taken place away from the main stadium the 4,400 competitors from 100 and 68 delegations paraded into the arena as the sun set with host nation France entering last to a standing ovation from 30,000 Spectators the fine weather was in sharp contrast to The Heavy Rain that fell throughout the Olympic opening ceremony on July 26th International paralympic committee IPC President Andrew Parsons told the athletes and Spectators he hoped for an inclusion Revolution before macron officially declared the games open the paralympic flag was carried into the square by John McFall a British paralympic Sprinter who has been selected by the European Space Agency to be the first parrona French Olympian Florent monat brought the flame into the arena to complete the 4-day torch relay five French paralympians including 2020 gold medalists Alexis hanant and Nan and lit the already iconic cauldron in the tiller's gardens of the 35 Olympic venues 18 will be used for the paral Olympics including the ornate Grand p and the state of France ticket sales had been sluggish for the Paralympics which run until September 8th but they have accelerated since the Olympics and organizers say more than 2 million of the 2.5 million available have been sold with several venues sold out Ukraine send strong team riding the wave of their Olympic team's success host nation France is aiming for a substantial Improvement on the 11 golds in 2021 which left them 14th in the medals table par Olympic powerhouses China dominated the last par Olympics in Tokyo with 96 Golds and have again sent a strong delegation Ukraine traditionally one of the top medal-winning Nations at the Paralympics has sent 140 athletes to compete in 17 Sports despite the challenges they face in and preparing as the war against Russian forces rages at home a total of 96 athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete under a neutral Banner but are banned from ceremonies because of the invasion of Ukraine American above the ne Ute Sprinter high jumper Ezra frck who is 19 has been tipped as a potential new star at these games away from the track more established names Go In Search Of Glory Iranian sitting volleyball Legend moresa mad who stands 8 ft 1 i and 2.46 m tall will attempt to take gold again beatric bab Bayo The Italian fencer who had all four limbs amputated when she contracted menitis at the age of 11 is aiming for a third pair Olympic Games gold