The Paralympic Games To Start in 12 Hours : Here's what to expect

About 4,400 athletes with disabilities, chronic injuries, or impairments are gearing up to fight for 549 medals in 22 sports over the course of 11 days in Paris at the Paralympic Games, which officially begin on Wednesday.

With many of the same locations holding Paralympic competitions, the French capital, which recently hosted the Olympics, serves as the backdrop once more for what looks to be another spectacular event.

Place de la Concorde, a historic area that played host to Olympic skating, breaking, and 3x3 basketball, will serve as the opening ceremony venue.

Blind soccer is an adaptation of beach volleyball for visually impaired players in teams of five using a ball that rattles. It will be played at the site next to the Eiffel Tower, which held beach volleyball during the Olympics.

Paraequestrian competitions will take place at Château de Versailles, where equestrian returns. Wheelchair-accessible fencing replaces fencing at the Grand Palais. Para archery will be held at the Invalides archery facility.

President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons told The Associated Press on Tuesday, "We are at the heart of the city." "The symbolism behind this is like the city of Paris is giving our athletes a gigantic hug."

The paratriathlon champion from France, Alexis Hanquinquant, remarked, "We're going to get an eyeful. We've got some monstrous iconic sites." "The world's most beautiful city is Paris. There will be some really amazing Paralympic Games, in my opinion.

Just two of the 22 Paralympic sports—goalball and boccia—do not have an Olympic equivalent. In goalball, teams of blind or visually impaired players alternately roll a ball filled with bells in the direction of the opponent's goal, with the players on the opposing team serving as goalkeepers. Players roll or toss leather balls toward a small ball known as a jack as closely as they can in the game of boccia.

In order to provide additional possibilities for female athletes and individuals with high-support needs, ten medal events have been added to the Tokyo Paralympics compared to the previous edition.

According to Parsons, about 2 million of the 2.5 million tickets for the different events have been sold. This would make the amount of spectators at a Paralympics ever held, second only to the London Paralympics in 2012.

The Paralympic flame was ignited on Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London that is regarded as the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. It was intended to travel across France via a torch relay to various cities before lighting the cauldron on Wednesday during the opening ceremony.

With Parisians returning from their summer holidays, anticipation has been growing. At the beginning of the month, the city nearly seemed deserted as many were at the shore. The Paralympics offer residents who missed the Olympic activity a second opportunity to experience some of the thrill.

On Thursday, the first day of competition, the athletes, or Paralympians, will be the center of attention. There will be medals up for grabs in the paralympic sports of parataekwondo, paratable tennis, swimming, and track cycling.

Medals will be awarded on each of the 11 days of competition, much like at the Olympics.

A large number of the competitors competing have titles to uphold.

The first female athlete from India to win two medals in a single Paralympic event, para shooter Avani Lekhara, is back to defend her gold in the 10-meter air rifle SH1 category from Tokyo.

Rifle shooters with lower limb disabilities, such as amputations or paraplegia, who are able to hold their gun and fire from a standing or sitting posture, fall under the SH1 category.

At the Tokyo Paralympics, American multisport expert Oksana Masters won a time trial and a road race on a handcycle. She will be aiming to increase her career total of 17 medals overall, including seven golds, in both summer and winter competitions.

Italian fencer Bebe Vio is competing for her third straight gold in wheelchair fencing, while Egypt's Sherif Osman is aiming for his fourth gold in parapowerlifting. She had meningitis as a toddler, and in order to save her life, doctors amputated both of her legs and her forearms.

Since the first blind soccer tournament in Athens in 2004, Brazil has never lost, but France has high expectations for an upset. The teams play each other on September 1, the day before the hosts take on China and Brazil in a potentially pivotal Group A fixture.

There are further plots as well.

When Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo, who is visually handicapped, competes in the women's 400-meter heats on September 2, she will become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympics.

A year after suffering a shark attack that left her lower leg amputated, American swimmer Ali Truwit is back in competition.

After suffering a severe illness almost ten years ago that caused him to lose his sight, teenage swimmer David Kratochvil is leading the Czech team's gold chances. After giving up ice hockey for the pool, 16-year-old Kratochvil established world records in the 50 and 200-meter backstroke last year.

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