Competition schedule for the Paralympic Games
With just two years to go until the Games, the calendar for all sessions for the different sports at the Paralympic Games is out – with the final 100 m wheelchair sprint, men and women’s finals in wheelchair basketball, doubles wheelchair tennis events, and the kick-off for the blind football final and more all scheduled. This schedule provides a clearer look at what will take place over 11 days of competition, ahead of the publication of the full events schedule.
Twenty-two sports will feature at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, in 23 disciplines (with para cycling including two disciplines – track and road) and a total of 549 events distributed across 269 sessions (morning, afternoon and evening). Although the Tokyo Paralympic Games took place over 12 competition days, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place over just 11 for a more densely packed programme of exciting events. The athletes will not begin competing on Wednesday 28 August 2024, the day of the opening ceremony. Rather, the events will begin the following day, giving everyone the chance to enjoy this exceptional and unifying event.
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A strong start on 29 August
The sport will kick off the day after the opening ceremony, with 11 Paralympic sports on display right from the first day of competition. One of those sports is wheelchair rugby, with the first event of an exhilarating tournament. Fans of fast-paced and thrilling sport, take note! Who will succeed Great Britain, who took home the gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021? One thing’s for sure – the United States, who came second place, will be seeking revenge…
Medals from day 1
Not a day of the Paralympic Games will go by without medals awarded. The first Paris 2024 Paralympic champions will be named on the track at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome on 29 August, where the events will begin at 11 am. In the early evening, the fun will continue under the spectacular dome of the Grand Palais, with the first para taekwondo finals, while the first para swimming finals will take place at Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre.
Other extraordinary venues will welcome spectators on this important day of firsts. Invalides will provide the breathtaking backdrop to Paralympic archery events, while Bercy Arena will host the highly‑awaited wheelchair basketball competition and South Paris Arena will group three different Paralympic disciplines in one area – boccia, para table tennis and goalball. The most sport-hungry spectators are therefore sure to find something to satisfy their appetite!
There will be no new disciplines at the Paralympic Games, but para badminton will begin its second-ever Paralympic appearance in Paris on 29 August. This new Paralympic discipline enjoyed great success in Tokyo, where France’s Lucas Mazur was named champion. In 2024, para badminton events will take place at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
From the Eiffel Tower to Roland Garros
Blind football competition will begin on Friday 30 August in the most quintessentially Parisian of locations, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Will Brazil, undefeated since blind football was first added to the Paralympic programme in 2004, finally be toppled? Meanwhile, that same day, just a ball’s throw from the universally famous monument, tennis players will take to the legendary clay courts at Roland Garros stadium to start the world’s most selective wheelchair tennis tournament.
10 days of para swimming and para athletics
Spectators will enjoy 10 days of para athletics (30 August-8 September) and para swimming (29 August‑7 September) events, spanning almost the entire Games. That’s plenty of time to put on thrilling performances and break new records. Marked by speed, strength, explosive energy and endurance, these sports are some of the most iconic in the Paralympic programme. Track, jump and throwing events will take place at the Stade de France, while breaststroke, crawl and butterfly will be shown at Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre – but all venues will display incredible and majestic performances.
Two action-packed weekends
The first weekend of the Paralympic Games (31 August-1 September) will offer a very dense programme, with 16 sports on the Saturday. Spectators will be able to watch riders perform their most impressive sequences in the gardens of the Château de Versailles or head to Vaires‑sur‑Marne for rowing and, the following weekend (7-8 September), para canoe events. The sporting spectacle will even hit the streets of Paris through the para triathlon. The triathletes will start the challenge in the Seine river at the Pont d’Iéna bridge on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 September.
Meanwhile, in Seine-Saint-Denis, Paralympic road races will set off from Clichy-sous-Bois from Wednesday 4 and Saturday 7 September, winding their way thorough the department to the great delight of cycling fans.
Lastly, the closing weekend (7-8 September) will be an opportunity to watch para judo in the spectacular setting of the Champ de Mars arena, as well as wheelchair fencing under the dome of the equally enchanting Grand Palais.
Find here the full program of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games will be 11 days of sport and excitement at breathtaking venues. It’s a unique event and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
