Expectations of a "Paris effect" for the global para-sport movement

The Paris 2024 Paralympics are expected to give the biggest boost to the global Paralympic movement since the template-breaking London 2012 Summer Paralympics.

The headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, France.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are expected to give the biggest boost to the global Paralympic movement since the template-breaking London 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Organizers hope this year's event will help bring disability rights to the top of the global priority list.

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons believes the Paris 2024 Paralympics, scheduled to open on August 28, will have a huge positive impact on the awareness of disability sport around the world.

Mr. Parsons emphasized that this is one of the main expectations of the committee at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics, with the belief that it is necessary to put the Paralympic movement back on the global agenda after several years of falling behind other issues.

Mr Parsons pointed out that the IPC considered that people with disabilities had been left behind, and that discussions on the subject were modest.

IPC officials say part of the reason for this situation is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has really affected the group of athletes with disabilities, as many health systems, even in large countries, have been unable to meet the needs of special athletes.

After the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics were devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics saw virtually no events, the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics are expected to bring things back to normal, with full events as usual.

Mr. Parsons believes that the stands at the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 will be crowded again, making a huge difference compared to the events in Tokyo and Beijing.

The IPC believes there will be “a Paris effect”, with para-sport events taking place at iconic landmarks, such as five-a-side football at the Eiffel Tower or taekwondo at the Grand Palais.

The images will be broadcast around the world. The IPC is confident that the upcoming TV audience will surpass the 4.1 billion people who watched the Tokyo Paralympics, thanks to a more convenient time for viewers in Europe and the Americas.

While admitting that the London 2012 Summer Paralympics were still a “mould-breaking” event with packed stadiums and global Para sporting stars, Mr Parsons believes the increased level of competition over the past 12 years will give this year’s event a new dimension as the movement has grown so much.

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