Starting on Wednesday, the Paralympics will take place in Paris, showcasing the abilities of exceptional athletes in a city still recovering from the enormously successful Olympics.
Sophisticated veterans will compete with a new generation of Paralympians in many of the same breathtaking venues in the heart of the French capital that played host to Olympic sports.
From August 28 to September 8, 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be used for the Paralympics. Among these venues is the Grand Palais, which received high praise for housing the fencing and taekwondo competitions.
Both the Stade de France, which holds track and field, and the La Defense Arena, which will host the 141 gold-medal events in paraswimming, are returning.
Place de la Concorde, which featured skateboarding and other “urban” sports during the Olympics, will hold the opening ceremony. For the first time in a Paralympics, the ceremony is held outside of the main stadium, similar to the Olympic ceremony on the Seine.
Less than half of the tickets apparently had been sold by the time the Olympics got underway, but since then, sales have picked up significantly, and the organizers claim that some stadiums are sold out.
Look to American above-the-knee amputee sprinter and high jumper Ezra Frech, who at 19 has already garnered a surge of attention about his journey to Paris. Every Games produces new stars, and this one won’t be any different.
Notable athletes also make a reappearance: British amputee sprinter Jonnie Peacock, who was among the most well-known competitors in London 2012, gave up running last year in an attempt to medal at the Paralympics for the fourth time in a row.
