Just weeks after the conclusion of the Olympics, Paris's summer of sports enters its final phase on Wednesday with the commencement of the Paralympic Games' opening ceremony.

Over 4,000 athletes with physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities will participate in 22 different sports over the course of the next 11 days.

Organizers are set to deliver a remarkable spectacle to inaugurate the Games. This ceremony will take place outside a traditional stadium setting; however, unlike the Olympic opening ceremony that featured a boat parade along the Seine River, the Paralympic ceremony will be entirely land-based, with athletes parading down the iconic Champs-Elysées to the event at the Place de la Concorde.

Artistic director Thomas Jolly, who also directed the Olympic opening ceremony, stated that the event will “highlight the Paralympic athletes and the values they represent,” and he assured audiences of “performances that have never been witnessed before.”

Organizers have reported that over 2 million tickets have been sold for the upcoming Paris Paralympics. The competition is set to commence on Thursday, with the first medals awarded in taekwondo, table tennis, and track cycling. Athletes will compete in categories based on their impairment levels to create a fair competition environment. Notably, only two sports featured in the event, goalball and boccia, do not have counterparts in the Olympic Games.

Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, emphasized that the anticipated large crowds in Paris will significantly impact the athletes, many of whom faced the challenge of competing in front of empty venues during the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our goal is to be recognized as the most transformative sporting event globally, and the atmosphere created by these crowds is crucial,” he stated to The Associated Press just before the opening ceremony.