French President Emmanuel Macron has opened the 17th Paralympic Summer Games in Paris. The head of state gave the traditional welcoming speech at 10.37 p.m. At the head of the German team, canoeist Edina Müller and triathlete Martin Schulz carried the flag from the Champs Elysee to the Place de la Concorde at 8.25 p.m.
Germany was the fourth team to enter the 300-meter parade in front of German President Walter Steinmeier and IPC chief Andrew Parsons. As at the Olympic Games, the opening ceremony did not take place in a stadium.
A total of 549 decisions in 22 sports are scheduled in Paris until September 8th. A total of around 4,400 athletes from 167 countries are taking part in the games in Japan, plus the refugee team as the 162nd delegation. 143 para-athletes and five guides will be competing for Germany.
Source: www.sport.de
