A video of French disabled swimmer Théo Curin in a taxi decorated with 'Phryge' mascots marked the start of a ceremony that lasted more than 3 hours in sunny weather before musician Chilly Gonzales sat down at the piano on a scene surrounding the Egyptian Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde.
Most of the 4,400 athletes – including around 150 from the French delegation – representing 168 delegates, began their parade between the Champs-Élysées and the Parisian square, for a show called “Paradox”. 15,000 spectators were expected to take their seats at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées to watch the athletes parade for free.
“Same ambition” as for the Olympics
Before the festivities began, martial arts movie star Jackie Chan was among the final torchbearers, ending their journey at the City Hall cauldron. The latter was lit by twelve pallbearers, including Cyréna Samba-Mayela, the only French medalist in athletics at the Olympics, and Ryadh Sallem, star player of the wheelchair rugby team.
Organizers promised the “same ambition” as the Olympic ceremony on July 26, which was praised around the world. No parade down the Seine this time, but one of the world's most famous boulevards, before the show around the Concorde obelisk, with a particular focus on “all bodies”, according to Thomas Jolly, its artistic director.
“An incredible ceremony” for international committee president Andrew Parsons, “the first encounter of the French with the Paralympic Games”, according to Marie-Amélie Le Fur, although the games did not yet exist when Paris hosted the Olympics in the early 20th century.
The latter said that she hopes for a show “that puts the athletes in the center of attention”, but also for a “militant ceremony and that proves that we still have developments to know about the place of people with disabilities”.