2024 Paralympics: Your ultimate guide to the Games
If there’s one statistic that encapsulates the growth and momentum of the Paralympic movement in recent decades, it’s surely this: 2.7 million. That was the number of tickets sold for the 2012 event in London, and it’s still a record. The viewing figures for that Games far exceeded expectations, with an average of 14.6 million people tuning in for each day of Channel 4’s coverage.
London 2012 was the high-water mark for a movement that began 64 years earlier, 40 miles north of London’s Olympic Park at the Stoke Mandeville hospital for war veterans. There, German neurologist Ludwig Guttmann recognised that his paraplegic patients needed not just physical therapy to adapt to their life–changing injuries, but psychological nourishment, too – a sense of purpose and an outlet for innate competitive instincts that no injury could ever extinguish. So, as the 1948 Olympics rode a wave of post–war euphoria, Guttmann organised rudimentary archery and netball competitions for his wheelchair-bound charges.
Four years later, as Dutch veterans were invited to join the embryonic endeavour, the International Stoke Mandeville Games was born. And it was the ninth edition – staged in September 1960, six days after the closing ceremony of the Rome Olympics – that became the first to carry the title of ‘Paralympic Games’. At the time, 400 athletes took part. Today, it’s more than 10 times that figure.
As Paris 2024 adds another chapter to one of sport’s most inspirational stories, organisers are hoping to both channel the spirit of London 2012 and supplant those seminal Games as the best of all time. ‘London put the bar quite high. But it was 12 years ago, and society’s gone a long way since then,’ says Étienne Thobois, Chief Executive Officer of the combined Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, pledged that Paris 2024 would ‘set a benchmark for all future editions’.
If that’s to be the case, then Britain will play its part. The UK is the biggest market for tickets, ahead of even the host nation, and Thobois and his organising committee are banking on British fans capitalising on geographical proximity and affordable prices (nearly half of tickets are €25 or less) to cascade across the Channel.
Those who do are in for a treat, with plenty of categories more competitive than ever. Rivalries have been forged and standards elevated. World bests are being beaten with thrilling frequency – and Team GB is packed with medal contenders.
The track and field action starts on Friday 30 August and runs until the end of the Games on Sunday 8 September. Read on for a list of the events taking place each day.
A guide to each event category
Running and jumping
T11-13: Vision impairment
T20: Intellectual impairment
T35-38: Coordination impairments (hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis)
T40-41: Short stature
T42-44: Lower limb competing without prosthesis affected by limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement
T45-47: Upper limb(s) – affected by limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement
T61-64: Lower limb(s) – competing with prosthesis, affected by limb deficiency or leg length difference
Wheelchair racing
T32-34: Coordination impairments (hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis)
T51-54: Limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement
Frame running
T71-T72: Coordination impairments (hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis)
Para triathlon
PTWC: Wheelchair
PTS: Standing
PTV: Vision impairment
Friday 30 August
The athletics starts with a bang at the Paris Paralympics, with the first event being the men’s 5000m T11 (final). The first Team GB para athlete to compete, however, will be Zac Shaw, who will make his Paralympic debut in the men’s 100m T12 event.
Events
Men’s 5000m – T11 (final), women’s 100m – T35 (round one), men’s 100m – T12 (round one), men’s 400m – T52 (round one), women’s 400m – T11 (round one), women’s 200m – T37 (round one), men’s 100m – T37 (round one), men’s 100m – T47 (round one), women’s 100m – T35 (final), men’s 400m – T52 (final), men’s 100m – T37 (final), men’s 100m – T47 (final), women’s 400m – T11 (semi-final), women’s 200m – T37 (final), women’s 400m – T47 (round one), men’s 5000m – T54 (round one), women’s 1500m – T13 (round one)
Saturday 31 August
This is set to be a big day for Team GB, as reigning champions Sophie Hahn and Thomas Young will compete in their respective 100m T38 finals – both with their eyes set firmly on gold. Watch out, too, for three-time Paralympian Olivia Breen, who bagged her first Olympic bronze in the women’s T35-T38 4 x 100m relay in London, and her second in the T38 long jump in Tokyo.
Events
Men’s 5000m – T13 (final), women’s 5000m – T54 (final), men’s 1500m – T46 (final), women’s 100m – T38 (round one), men’s 100m – T38 (round one), men’s 400m – T11 (round one), men’s 100m – T12 (semi-final), women’s 1500m – T13 (final), men’s 100m – T44 (round one), men’s 100m – T38 (final), men’s 400m – T11 (semi-final), women’s 400m – T11 (final), women’s 100m – T38 (final), men’s 5000m – T54 (final), men’s 100m – T12 (final), women’s 400m – T47 (final), women’s 200m – T36 (round one)
Sunday 1 September
Get ready for a packed day of top-tier Paralympic performances. Our current cover star, Lauren Steadman, will toe the start line in the women’s PTS5 triathlon event today. After such a dominant victory in Tokyo, all eyes will be on her to see if she can repeat the win and claim more gold for Team GB.
Also racing today and hoping to defend her Olympic title is reigning champion Hannah Cockroft, who will line up in the women’s T34 100m event. She’ll race alongside fellow Brit Karé Adenegan, who scored silver in the discipline at the Tokyo Games. Meanwhile, Zac Skinner – the bronze medallist in the T13 long jump at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships – will be hoping to cross the finish line first in the men’s T13 100m event.
Events
Women’s 1500m – T11 (round one), men’s 100m – T34 (round one), women’s 800m – T53 (round one), women’s 800m – T54 (round one), men’s 100m – T13 (round one), men’s 400m – T54 (round one), women’s 200m – T36 (final), men’s 400m – T53 (round one), women’s 800m – T53 (final), women’s 800m – T54 (final), men’s 100m – T44 (final), women’s 200m – T35 (final), men’s 100m – T13 (final), men’s 400m – T53 (final), men’s 400m – T54 (final), women’s 100m – T34 (final), men’s 400m – T11 (final), men’s 100m – (round one), men’s 100m – T63 (round one), men’s PTS3, men’s PTS2, women’s PTS2, men’s PTS5, men’s PTS4, women’s PTS5, women’s PTS4
Monday 2 September
After a 12-year hiatus from the Paralympics, the Weirwolf is back! One of the greatest para athletes of all time, David Weir will be racing once again in the men’s 1500m T54 event, with round one starting today and the final following on Tuesday.
Talking of great para athletes, Jonnie Peacock will be hoping that Sunday’s first round of the 100m T64 goes to plan – that way, he can line up confidently for today’s final, which closes the action on day four of the track and field events.
Events
Women’s 1500m – T11 (final), men’s 1500m – T11 (round one), men’s 1500m – T13 (round one), men’s 100m – T34 (final), men’s 100m – T35 (round one), women’s 100m – T11 (round one), men’s 400m – T38 (round one), women’s 1500m – T54 (round one), men’s 100m – T35 (final), women’s 100m – T11 (semi-final), women’s 400m – T37 (round one), men’s 400m – T20 (round one), women’s 400m – T20 (round one), men’s 100m – T63 (final), women’s 400m – T12 (round one), men’s 1500m – T54 (round one), men’s 100m – T64 (final), men’s PTWC, women’s PTWC, men’s PTVI, women’s PTVI
Tuesday 3 September
Events
Men’s 1500m – T11 (final), men’s 1500m – T13 (final), women’s 200m – T64 (round one), men’s 200m – T51 (final), women’s 100m – T13 (round one), men’s 400m – T37 (round one), men’s 400m – T36 (final), women’s 400m – T12 (final), women’s 1500m – T54 (final), women’s 100m – T47 (round one), women’s 400m – T20 (final), men’s 400m – T38 (final), women’s 200m – T64 (final), women’s 100m – T11 (final), women’s 100m – T13 (final), women’s 100m – T47 (final), men’s 400m – T20 (final), men’s 1500m – T54 (final), men’s 400m – T12 (round one), women’s 400m – T37 (final)
Wednesday 4 September
Sammi Kinghorn claimed her first Paralympic medals – a bronze in the T53 100m event and silver in the T53 400m event – at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, and she’ll now want to do even better in Paris. Going by her recent gold in the T53 100m at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, where she clocked a championship record of 15.93 seconds, this seems likely.
Events
Men’s 100m – T11 (round one), men’s 400m – T37 (final), men’s 100m – T53 (round one), women’s 100m – T53 (round one), men’s 100m – T54 (round one), women’s 100m – T54 (round one), women’s 100m – T36 (round one), men’s 400m – T12 (semi-final), women’s 100m – T36 (final), men’s 100m – T53 (final), men’s 100m – T54 (final), women’s 100m – T12 (round one), men’s 400m – T13 (round one), women’s 100m – T53 (final), women’s 100m – T54 (final), men’s 100m – T11 (semi-final), women’s 100m – T37 (round one)
Thursday 5 September
Events
Men’s 400m – T12 (final), men’s 400m – T13 (final), women’s 200m – T11 (round one), women’s 100m – T37 (final), women’s 100m – T12 (semi-final), men’s 800m – T53 (round one), men’s 800m – T54 (round one), women’s 400m – T53 (round one), women’s 400m – T54 (round one), men’s 100m – T11 (final), women’s 100m – T12 (final), women’s 400m – T53 (final), women’s 400m – T54 (final), men’s 800m – T53 (final), men’s 800m – T54 (final), women’s 100m – T64 (round one), women’s 400m – T13 (round one), men’s 100m – T52 (round one)
Friday 6 September
Isaac Towers will return to the Paralympic stage in the men’s 800m T34 event. He’ll be looking to maximise on recent form and improve upon the fifth place that he achieved at the 2016 Games in Rio.
Events
Women’s 200m – T11 (semi-final), men’s 1500m – T20 (final), women’s 1500m – T20 (final), men’s 400m – T47 (round one), men’s 100m – T52 (final), men’s 800m – T34 (round one), men’s 200m – T35 (round one), 4 x 100m universal relay (round one), women’s 100m – T64 (final), men’s 400m – T62 (final), men’s 1500m – T38 (round one), women’s 200m – T12 (round one), men’s 200m – T37 (round one), men’s 100m – T36 (round one), 4 x 100m universal relay (final), men’s 100m – T51 (final), women’s 400m – T38 (round one)
Saturday 7 September
Today, Hannah Cockroft will be out to defend her T34 800m Olympic gold from Tokyo.
Events
Men’s 800m – T34 (final), women’s 400m – T13 (final), men’s 200m – T35 (final), men’s 200m – T37 (final), men’s 100m – T36 (final), women’s 100m – T63 (round one), men’s 200m – T64 (round one), women’s 200m – T47 (round one), men’s 1500m – T38 (final), women’s 200m – T11 (final), women’s 200m – T12 (final), women’s 200m – T47 (final), men’s 200m – T64 (final), women’s 800m – T34 (final), women’s 400m – T38 (final), men’s 400m – T47 (final), women’s 100m – T63 (final)
Sunday 8 September
Team GB’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper, winner of the 2024 Boston Marathon, will make her Paralympic debut today. There are high hopes for the talented young wheelchair athlete, who has shown huge promise since joining David Weir’s Weir Archer outfit in 2013.
Events
Women’s marathon – T54, men’s marathon – T12, women’s marathon – T12, men’s marathon – T54
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