Paris 2024 Paralympics : dream night for the French flag bearers 

The Paralympics opening ceremony was held yesterday Place de la Concorde in Paris. The French flag bearers, Nantenin Keita and Alexis Hanquinquant experienced an "extraordinary evening".

The memories are still fresh for Nantenin Keita, flag bearer for the French delegation at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. The opening ceremony was held yesterday on the Place de la Concorde, and it seems to have been a great success for the sprinter. "We just lived an extraordinary evening, enjoyed the 40-year-old Para athlete*. We just felt all this positive energy around the team ! We were so close to people we were able to hug them and shake their hands."*

Alexis Hanquinquant, the co-flag bearer, who specializes in Para triathlon, has even lost his voice "because we just sang a lot". "It was a great way to start the Paralympics, said the 2020 gold medalist*, now we can’t wait for the Games to begin !"*

Lighting the cauldron

The two flag bearers have been selected to be among the five Para athletes selected to light the Paralympics cauldron. Hanquinquant and Keita were along Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Elodie Lorandi and Fabien Lamirault. They all won gold Paralympics medals and will compete in this year’s edition.

"When Tony Estanguet called me to be one of the last to hold the torch, I thought : it can’t be me ! Keita said*. When I was lighting up the cauldron, I was just thinking about how Marie-José Perec and Teddy Riner were there three weeks ago. It was just magical, and so important that every handicap was represented."*

"It was such a surprise to be selected to light the cauldron, Hanquiquant revealed*. I’m honored and I want to thank everyone."*