India's grand entry and other top moments from Paris Paralympics Opening Ceremony
The 2024 Paris Paralympics kicked off in style with a glittering opening ceremony taking place at Place de la Concorde on Wednesday, 28 August
The opening ceremony began with French para-swimmer Theo Curin driving a taxi covered in Les Phryges — the official mascot for Paris 2024
A flypast performed by Patrouille acrobatique, in which the aircrafts left plumes of smoke in the colours of the Tricolore marked the beginning of the 'Parade of Nations'
Since the Paralympics did not start in Greece, Afghanistan, and not Greece, were not the first nation to arrive at the venue in the athletes' parade
Greece was happy marching out with other nations starting with G, and in a unique gesture, waved both the Greek and the French flags
Among the highlights of the event was the Indian contingent led by Sumit Antil and Bhagyashree Jadhav making an entrance to remember
The Palestinian and Ukrainian contingents received some of the loudest cheers during the athletes' parade, as did the Refugee Paralympic Team
As is tradition, the host nation came out last following USA and Australia, the hosts of the next two Paralympic Games
The evening witnessed some spectacular performances, including from disabled artists, making for an evening that was dazzling as well as inspirational
A number of celebrated artists including French singer-songwriter Christina and the Queen performed during the opening ceremony
Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, gave an passionate speech on the stage in which he called for an “inclusion revolution”
French president Emmanuel Macron would then declare the Games 'Open'
The Paralympic flag was carried to the venue by John McFall, a Paralympic bronze medallist who also happens to be a surgeon and a 'parastronaut'
The Paralympic torch was brought to the venue by Florent Manaudou, who had served as France's flag-bearer in the Olympic opening ceremony last month, and was later passed to a number of sporting icons
At the end of the ceremony, the cauldron, which once again was attached to a hot-air balloon, was lit by five French athletes
NEXT: India's top medal hopes for Paris Paralympics