IN PICTURES. Paralympic Games kick off with spectacular opening ceremony

The 17th edition of the Paralympic Games officially kicked off on Wednesday at the Place de la Concorde in Paris with the opening ceremony. The Paralympics will last until next Sunday. Just like at the Olympic Games last month, it was French president Emmanuel Macron who declared the Games open.

The opening ceremony started on Wednesday evening with a parade of athletes over the Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde. 150 dancers, twenty of whom had a disability, including Hasselt’s Sofie Cox, gave their best during a show. The choreography was by the Swede Alexander Ekman. The show was about “the body and the way society looks at people with a disability”. The spirit of inclusivity was central to this.

The French tricolour really shone everywhere in Paris: on the ground and in the air, because of course the fighter jets could not be missed… (Continue reading below the photos)

The Paralympic Games mascot danced happily along with the athletes. (Continue reading below the photo)

Performers gave their best during the spectacle in the French capital. Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier of Christine and the Queens performed her own version of “Non, je ne regrette rien” by Édith Piaf. After the athletes’ parade, with music by DJ Myd, and a great reinterpretation of the French national anthem, Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee, and Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), addressed the audience. (Continue reading below the photos)

Estanguet spoke of “a Paralympic revolution.” “You have the courage and the perseverance of the revolutionaries,” he said. “Your weapons are the emotions of sport.” Parsons added an “inclusion revolution.” French President Macron then declared the Paralympic Games open. (Continue reading below the photo)

Fourteen Belgian athletes and a guide attended the opening ceremony. They were the fifteenth country to arrive at the Place de la Concorde. The Belgian flag was carried by rider Manon Claeys and wheelchair tennis player Joachim Gérard. In total, the Belgian representation consisted of 30 people. From the Belgian royal family, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, Prince Amedeo and Princess Elisabetta watched the spectacle from the grandstand. (Continue reading below the photos)