During the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games opening ceremony, Daniel Parsons, the International Paralympic Committee president, declared that it would set a benchmark for future competitions. As the first Paralympics with an opening ceremony held outside of a stadium, Paris 2024 certainly raised the bar in terms of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the tournament; the opening ceremony was held at the iconic Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysées. Accordingly, interest in Paris 2024 was higher than previous Paralympics, with the
rising from around 100 million in 2021 for the Tokyo Games to over double that in 2024. Meanwhile, Paris 2024 came second only to London 2012 as the
Who were the best performers at Paris 2024?
Owing to Para swimming having
over 140 events, of which athletes can participate in multiple disciplines, the most successful Paralympians in terms of medals won have been swimmers. With a medal tally of 46, Trischa Zorn of the U.S. is the
most successful athlete to have competed at the Paralympics. During Paris 2024, the
most decorated competitor was Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan, with a haul of seven gold medals. Meanwhile, the Paralympian with the most medals outside of the pool was Catherine Debrunner, who won six golds in events as varied as the women’s T53 400m and T54 marathon.
How do event classifications work in the Paralympics?
To create as level a playing field as possible, the Paralympics have an impairment classification system that is split into two main categories: functional, and visual & intellectual. The former assesses the degree to which an athlete's functional abilities are hindered, such as in trunk and leg function. Meanwhile, the latter assesses the level at which an athlete is impaired by their sight or intellectual faculties. Accordingly, each classification is usually represented by a letter and number, with the former corresponding to sport and the latter to the area of impairment; for instance, T54 corresponds to a track event (T) and 54 signifies a wheelchair race. As the area with the most events, it stands to reason that Para athletics had the
most impairment classifications at Paris 2024, totaling 30.
How many world records were set at Paris 2024?
The Paris Paralympics saw a substantial number of world records broken, with nearly 20 new records alone being
set in track events. Noticeably, most of these records were broken by their current holders; Paralympic sprinter Jaydin Blackwell even broke two of his own records in the men’s T38 100m and men’s T38 400m. Other standout performances included Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi, who smashed the world record time in the women’s T12 marathon by over five minutes. While there is no guarantee that records at future Paralympics will be broken at the same rate as in Paris, the 2024 Games continued to raise the bar for the world’s most preeminent parasports competition.
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