Everything you need to know about the 2024 Paralympics

The Paralympic Games are now upon us, more than two weeks after the Paris Olympics came to a close.

As the 160-strong Australian team prepares for action, here’s everything you need to know.

When do the Paralympics start?

The Paralympics begin with the opening ceremony, which starts at 4am (AEST) on Thursday.

Unlike the Olympics, athletes won’t be cruising down the Seine for the ceremony. Formalities will largely take place at the Place de la Concorde and Champs-Élysées in the heart of Paris, where Paralympians are expected to be greeted by 50,000 spectators.

Paralympians Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario will be Australia’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Credit: SMH

Madison de Rozario and Brenden Hall, who hold five Paralympic gold medals between them, will be Australia’s flag bearers. They are both competing at their fifth Paralympics.

Sporting action will begin with the badminton on Thursday afternoon (4.30pm AEST). Australia’s first medal chances will be in the para cycling, swimming and table tennis events, which will largely take place early on Friday morning.

How many Australians are at the Paralympics?

There are 160 athletes representing Australia across 17 different events in Paris during the next 11 days of competition. Australia sent 179 Paralympians to Tokyo, who returned home with 80 medals (including 21 golds).

Sixty-one Australians will be making their Paralympic debut in Paris, which has never hosted a Paralympics before. Almost two-fifths of the Paralympic team will compete in athletics (32 athletes) and swimming (30).

Overall, there are more than 4400 athletes competing in 22 sports.

Which Australians should I watch?

De Rozario will compete in the 800m T53 and marathon T54 – events she won in Tokyo. James Turner (400m T36) and Vanessa Low (long jump T63) will also hope to defend athletic Paralympic titles in Paris.

In the pool, Benjamin Hance (100m backstroke S14) and Rachael Watson (50m freestyle S4) will also hope to defend their Tokyo gold medals. Australia will be without swimmer Ellie Cole, the nation’s most decorated female Paralympian, who retired after winning her 17th medal at her fourth Games in Tokyo.

Qian Yang and Lina Lei won gold in table tennis at the Paralympics.Credit: Getty Images

Reigning gold medallists Amanda Reid, Emily Petricola and Darren Hicks will lead Australia’s 16-strong cycling contingent in Paris, which will include Chad and Kane Perris – the first Australian siblings to compete at a Paralympics since Barcelona 1992. Reigning table tennis champions Qian Yang and Lina Lei will also be in action for Australia.

Swimmer Holly Warn (15 years and five months) will be Australia’s youngest competitor in Paris, while Danni Di Toro (table tennis) will compete at her eighth Paralympics.

Where will Australia pick up medals?

The bulk of Australia’s medals are expected to be in the athletics and swimming, but there are also good chances in the canoeing and cycling.

Australia’s 21 gold medals in Tokyo was the nation’s worst haul since1980 and marked a slide since winning 32 events at London 2012.

Just like the Olympics, many of the medal events are expected to take place in the wee hours of the morning, so your alarm clock might be getting another workout.

What else should I keep an eye on?

Australia’s wheelchair rugby team, led by soon-to-be six-time Paralympian Ryley Batt, will be in action from Thursday night (AEST). The team finished off the podium in Tokyo for the first time since Athens 2004, so will be approaching Paris with a vengeance in the event dubbed “murderball”.

Local eyes will be fixed on triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant, the reigning gold medallist, who will be France’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Credit: Matt Golding

After seeing the reception the Paris crowd gave national hero Leon Marchand after he won four golds in the pool at the Olympics, Hanquinquant will be hoping to receive similar plaudits in the Paralympics.

Be sure to also track Japan’s Sugiura Keiko, who will hope to defend the para cycling gold she won as a 50-year-old debutant in Tokyo. Mexican Amalia Perez has dominated the powerlifting event, having finished on the podium at every Paralympics since Sydney 2000, and winning gold at each Games since Beijing 2008.

You can watch the Paralympics live and free on the 9Network and 9Now.