The flame was ignited on Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, a community northwest of London that is largely regarded as the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, by British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Gregor Ewan. The flame will now cross the English Channel to France, where it will be relayed over four days from beaches in the Atlantic to those in the Mediterranean, and from Pyrenees mountains to Alps.
Flame begins the Paralympics journey
The Paralympic Heritage Flame lighting event took place in Buckinghamshire, the site of the 1948 Stoke Mandeville Games, which were intended for a select group of wheelchair athletes who had suffered spinal injuries in World War II. The brains behind the concept was a Jewish neurosurgeon named Ludwig Guttmann, who worked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Britain after fleeing Nazi Germany.
Patients were discouraged from moving at the time since spinal injuries were thought to be fatal. In order to keep the patients engaged, Guttmann had them sit up, strengthen their muscles, and introduce competition.”I’m not sure about you guys, but I can feel his presence here today, no doubt about it,” International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said of Guttmann at Saturday’s lighting ceremony.
Two weeks after the Olympics ended, the French capital expressed its excitement and pride at hosting the 17th Summer Paralympics, which will be the first ever held in France, according to Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 organizing committee. According to Estanguet, we are “ready to make it unique and memorable for France and the whole world.”
Flame crosses channels
To celebrate the beginning of the Paralympic relay, the torch will cross the water on Sunday, much like its Olympic twin did when it arrived in France from Greece in May. However, this time, it will do it via the Channel Tunnel.
A team of twenty-four British athletes will go through the 30-mile tunnel underwater. About halfway through, they will pass the flame to twenty-four French competitors, who will land it in Calais. To represent the 11 days of competition and the opening ceremony, it will be used to burn 12 torches.
The flame’s twelve offshoots will travel in various directions once they arrive in France with the goal of igniting interest in the Games and launching the Paris Olympics encore.
Proud torchbearers of the event
Among the 1,000 torchbearers are young paralympians, previous Paralympians, Paralympic federation volunteers, inventors in sophisticated technical support, those who commit their lives to helping others with disabilities, and non-profit workers who assist caregivers.
To raise awareness of living with a disability and to honor communities that are dedicated to fostering inclusion in sport, they will bring the torch to fifty cities around the nation. On Sunday, a remarkable flame will be ignited in Paris to mark the eight decades since the French city was freed from Nazi Germany’s hold during World War II.
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