PARIS — Just weeks after hosting the Olympic Games, Paris began the final chapter of its summer of sport on Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

French President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the Games open at a ceremony outside the walls of a stadium, just as the Olympics opened in the city on July 26.

Against the backdrop of a setting sun, thousands of athletes paraded down the famous Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris.

About 50,000 people watched the ceremony from stands built around Paris’ largest square, visible from afar because of the ancient Egyptian Obelisk. Organizers laid strips of asphalt along the avenue and across the square to make it easier for athletes in wheelchairs to access.

More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities will compete in 22 sports from Thursday through September 8.

Under the watchful eye of Macron and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons, fighter jets flew overhead, leaving behind red, white and blue smoke in the colours of the French national flag, before the delegations entered the square in alphabetical order.

Some delegations were huge (over 250 athletes from Brazil), others were small (less than a handful from Barbados and only three from Myanmar).

Although Wednesday night’s show kicked off at 8pm local time, fans had gathered hours earlier under a blazing sun to secure prime positions along the way. As performers entertained the crowd on stage, volunteers danced alongside Paralympians waving their national flags and the sky glowed with a postcard-perfect orange glow.

The Ukrainian delegation was loudly cheered and several people from the audience stood up to applaud.

The French delegation arrived last, to loud cheers from the audience, who then sang along to popular French songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by the late rocker Johnny Hallyday.

Lucky Love, a French singer who lost his left arm at birth, sang on stage, accompanied by performers in wheelchairs. Then, as the national anthem played, the Obelisk lit up in the colors of the French flag.

Organizers had promised another spectacular show to open the Games. Unlike the rainy Olympic opening ceremony on July 26, which featured a boat parade on the Seine River, the Paralympic ceremony was held exclusively on land.

According to the organizers, more than 2 million of the 2.8 million tickets for the various Paralympic events have now been sold.

Tony Estanguet, the president of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, called the Paralympians “great champions, and we are honoured to be with them tonight.”

The first medals to be awarded on Thursday will be for taekwondo, table tennis, swimming and track cycling. Athletes will be grouped according to their level of disability to ensure as level a playing field as possible. Only two sports, goalball and boccia, do not have an Olympic equivalent.

Parsons said the large crowds expected in Paris will mean a lot to the athletes, many of whom competed in empty stands at the Tokyo Paralympic Games three years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parsons hoped the Paralympic Games would be a “powerful force for good” amid ongoing global tensions.

The closing ceremony will take place at the Stade de France, the national stadium.