The Paris Paralympic flame is lit at its origin

The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games are just around the corner, with the opening ceremony taking place on August 28. Like the Olympics, the opening ceremony will be held outside the stadium. The opening ceremony will be held between the Champs-Elysées and the Place de la Concorde, and will be enjoyed by spectators and TV viewers.

The Paralympic flame was lit by British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Gregor Ewan in heavy rain in Stoke Mandeville, England, on August 24. "The unpredictable weather is with us," joked Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.

"It's a great honour," Helene Raynsford told AFP. She was the first champion of the disabled rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. She added: “This (Stoke Mandeville) is the birthplace of the Paralympics.” The history of the Paralympics dates back to 1948, when German neurologist Ludwig Guttmann organised sports competitions for war veterans who had become paraplegics or wheelchair-bound at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in north-west London.