The official opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games was held in Paris, the capital of France, where more than 4,000 athletes from 184 countries participated.
For the first time in the history of the modern Olympic movement, the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games took place outside the stadium in the center of Paris.
At the beginning of the opening ceremony, the Paralympic torch was lit to start the games, and then the flag parade took place. Armenia's flag bearer was Greta Vardanyan, a paraglider.
French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, participated in the opening ceremony of the Games.
Armenia will have qualified representatives for the first time at the Paralympic Games, which will be held in Paris from August 28 to September 8. Greta Vardanyan (weightlifting), Smbat Karapetyan (wheelbarrow), and Sargis Stepanyan (shot put) of the Armenian national Paralympic team will compete in the games.
Sargis Stepanyan will be the first among the representatives of Armenia to fight. His competition is scheduled for August 30. Next, on September 4, Smbat Karapetyan will start the competition, and on September 6, Greta Vardanyan.
At the 2024 Paralympic Games, 4,400 paraathletes will compete in 20 sports for 549 sets of medals over 11 competition days.