The Olympics may have just ended, but don’t go anywhere, because the Paralympics are taking front and center on Paris’ stage. It is the first time France has hosted a Summer Paralympics and from August 28th to September 8th, around 4,400 athletes will compete in 22 sports and 23 disciplines, or branches of a sport, making for a total of 549 thrilling medal events.
The 23 disciplines included are blind football, boccia, goalball, Para archery, Para athletics, which encompasses several activities, like running and javelin, Para badminton, Para canoe, Para cycling road, Para cycling track, Para equestrian (specifically Para dressage), Para judo, Para powerlifting, Para rowing, Para swimming, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo, Para triathlon, shooting Para sport, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.
Boccia and goalball are the only 2 sports that do not have an Olympic equivalent. Named after the Italian word for ‘ball”, boccia was originally developed for people with cerebral palsy (CP). Now, the sport welcomes players with CP and severe impairments of all 4 limbs. Each player starts each round or ‘end’ with six balls; the goal of the sport is to throw or roll these balls as close as possible to a small white ball called the ‘jack.’ Similarly, goalball is a team sport designed for the visually impaired and blind, originally invented in 1946 for World War II veterans who lost their sight. Goalball is played by two teams of three players on the same size court used for volleyball. Teams take turns attacking and defending by rolling a ball containing internal bells along the floor towards the opposite goal. Players dive and lie down in front of their own goal to block the ball, while tactile markings help determine where they are.
Four years of world-class para-athletes have been waiting for this moment to arrive. This year’s U.S. Paralympic Team consists of 225 members and five guides who will make their way to Paris to represent the United States. For newcomers, the names and teams to look out for are Nick Mayhugh (Para athletics), Hunter Woodhall (Para athletics), Noelle Malkamaki (Para athletics), Jessica Long (Para swimming), the women’s sitting volleyball team, the men’s wheelchair basketball team and the men’s wheelchair rugby team. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that a record number of delegations (explain what delegations are) and female athletes will compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This number includes 167 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), an eight-strong Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT), and 96 Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA,) along with many more athletes you’ve got to tune in and see for yourself.
Not only will Paris 2024 make history as the first Paralympic Games to offer live coverage of each of the 22 sports in the Paralympic programme, but NBCU’s Paralympic coverage will also include the most live Peacock streaming hours ever for a Paralympic event. Approximately 1,500 hours will be presented across all sports during the 12-day event, making Peacock the most comprehensive Paralympic destination in U.S. media history. Over 1.75 million tickets have already been sold, and many of the viewing sessions are on the verge of being completely sold out.
The Paris 2024 slogan, “Games Wide Open”, is already being realized for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “…It’s a power. The power to open our hearts and minds, to stop seeing differences as obstacles. Between the non-disabled athletes and Para athletes: there is only one French team. Between the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games: there is only one emblem and one slogan. Between men and women: our Olympic Games will be those of perfect parity…” explains Tony Estanguet, the President of Paris 2024.
Today’s competition features 22 medals across multiple sports: 4 in cycling, 15 in swimming, and 3 in Para taekwondo. Wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, and Para badminton also are poised to compete. Catch a piece of the action on USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, the Paralympic YouTube channel, and the International Paralympic Committee website.
