Paris 2024: Best Paralympic torch relay moments
Are you ready for the Paris 2024 Paralympic torch relay? To get you in the mood, here is our pick of the best moments from recent relays ahead of the Flame Lighting Ceremony on 24 August 23 Aug 2024
The Paris 2024 Paralympic torch relay begins on 25 August, just three days before the Opening Ceremony. The flame will be ignited in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, before being carried to France via the Channel Tunnel.
Before the flame arrives in the French capital, we want to whet your appetite for this exciting spectacle by looking back on some of the best moments from past relays, starting with the Paris 2024 Olympic torch relay.
Paris 2024 Olympic torch relay
We loved seeing Paralympians take part in the Olympic Games torch relay!
France’s most decorated Paralympian, 20-time gold medallist Beatrice Hess, was part of the flame handover ceremony in Athens, Greece, in April.
Para taekwondo athlete Zakia Khudadadi, who will compete for the Refugee Paralympic Team in Paris, and blind football player Yvan Wouandji then carried the torch in July.
During the Olympic Opening Ceremony, French Paralympians Marie-Amelie Le Fur, Nantenin Keita and Alexis Hanquinquant carried the torch past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and The Louvre to start the Olympic Games in style.
Tokyo 2020
At the last Paralympics, the torch relay for Tokyo 2020 took place from 12 to 24 August 2021 under the concept “Share your Light”. Flames from Stoke Mandeville and Japanese municipalities were brought together as a single “Flame of Tokyo” during a ceremony in the capital.
Teams of three torchbearers carried the torch before handing off to the next group. Despite sections of the relay on public roads being cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mood was still festive. The public was able to watch live streaming of ceremonies held in different cities.
Japanese wheelchair tennis star Yui Kamiji lit a sphere-shaped cauldron during the Opening Ceremony alongside Shunsuke Uchida, and Karin Morisaki.
Rio 2016
The Rio 2016 Paralympic torch was designed to celebrate passion and transformation, the essence of the Games.
The flame travelled to different Brazilian cities before Paralympic legend Clodoaldo Silva lit the cauldron in Rio. In each city, the relay celebrated a specific set of Games values: in Brasília, it was equality; in Belém, determination; in Natal, inspiration; in São Paulo, transformation; in Joinville, courage; and in Rio de Janeiro, passion.
London 2012
Remember the excitement of London 2012? The Paralympic torch relay started it all off with a host of great moments.
Four flames were lit as part of a new concept for the Paralympic torch relay, one in each of the home nations’ capital cities - London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff. On 28 August the four flames were united at the Paralympic Flame Lighting Ceremony at Stoke Mandeville to create the London 2012 Paralympic Flame.
Around 580 torchbearers took part in the 24-hour relay from Stoke Mandeville to the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. The flame travelled to iconic locations including Abbey Road Studios and London Zoo.
Beijing 2008
The 10-day long Paralympic Torch Relay involved 850 torchbearers in the two-route run. The Launch Ceremony took place at the Temple of Heaven, a UNESCO heritage site that was founded in the 15th century.
The “Ancient China” route saw people carry the flame through the historic cities of Xi’an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang. The “Modern China” route took in Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian.
