Paralympic Games: What to expect as 4,400 athletes prepare to compete in Paris

PARIS (AP) — Let the games begin again.

The Paralympic Games are set to open Wednesday as some 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments prepare to compete for 549 medals across 22 sports over 11 days in Paris.

The French capital, which just hosted the Olympics, again provides the backdrop for what promises to be another spectacle, with many of the same venues hosting Paralympic competitions.

Historic square Place de la Concorde, which hosted skateboarding, breaking and 3x3 basketball during the Olympics, will host the opening ceremony.

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

Equestrian returns to Château de Versailles, which will host para equestrian events. The Grand Palais transitions from fencing to wheelchair fencing. Archery venue Invalides will host para archery.

The venue beside the Eiffel Tower, which hosted beach volleyball during the Olympics, will host blind soccer, an adaption of the game for visually impaired players in teams of five with a ball containing rattles.

“We’ve got some monstrous iconic sites, and we’re going to get an eyeful,” France's para triathlon champion, Alexis Hanquinquant, said. “Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. I think we’re going to have some pretty exceptional Paralympic Games.”

Of the 22 Paralympic sports, only two do not have an Olympic equivalent — goalball and boccia. In goalball, teams of visually impaired or blind players take turns rolling a ball containing bells toward the opposing goal while the defending team’s players act as goalkeepers. In boccia, players throw or roll leather balls as close as they can to a small ball called a jack.

Compared to the previous edition of the Paralympics in Tokyo, 10 medal events have been added to give female athletes and those with high-support needs more opportunities.

Parsons said around 2 million of 2.5 million tickets have been sold for the various events, which would be the second highest ever total number of spectators at a Paralympics, behind the London Paralympics in 2012.

The Paralympic flame was lit Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London widely considered the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, and was to make its way via a torch relay under the English Channel to cities all over France before lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony on Wednesday.

Anticipation has been building with Parisians returning from their summer vacations – the city almost felt empty at the beginning of the month with many away at the coast. For locals who missed the Olympic action, the Paralympics are a second chance to catch some of the excitement.

The athletes — Paralympians — will be the focus of attention starting Thursday in the first day of competition when there will be medals to be won in para taekwondo, para table tennis, para swimming and para cycling on the track.

As was the case for the Olympics, there will medals up for grabs on each of the 11 days of competition.

Many of the competing athletes have titles to defend.

Para shooter Avani Lekhara, the first Indian woman to win a pair of medals at a single edition of the Paralympics, returns to defend her 10-meter air rifle gold in the SH1 category from Tokyo.

The SH1 category is for rifle shooters with lower limb impairments like amputations or paraplegia who can hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position.

American multi-sport specialist Oksana Masters won a hand-cycle road race and time trial at the Tokyo Paralympics, and she will be looking to add to her career total of seven gold and 17 medals overall in both summer and winter events.

Para powerlifter Sherif Osman of Egypt is going for his fourth gold medal, and Italian fencer Bebe Vio is vying for her third consecutive gold in wheelchair fencing. After contracting meningitis as a child, doctors amputated both her legs and her forearms to save her life.

Brazil is unbeaten in blind soccer going back to the first tournament in Athens in 2004, but France harbors hopes of an upset. The hosts kick off against China and Brazil plays Turkey on Sept. 1, a day before the teams meet for a potentially decisive match in Group A.

And there are other storylines.

Visually impaired Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo will be the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics when she races in the heats for her classification in the women’s 400 meters on Sept. 2.

American swimmer Ali Truwit is competing a year after losing her lower leg in a shark attack while snorkeling.

Teenage swimmer David Kratochvil is carrying Czech hopes of a medal after losing his sight because of a serious illness about 10 years ago. The 16-year-old Kratochvil used to play ice hockey but switched to the pool, where he set world records in the 50 and 200-meter backstroke last year.

Many more wait to be told over the next two weeks.