The largest Paralympics in the 44-year history of the Olympic Games started Friday with a three-hour Opening Ceremony that featured fireworks shooting from the stadium roof, hearing-impaired performers, children in capes, light projections, and a giant 85-foot tall styrofoam tree weighing 35 tons, to symbolize life, in the middle of the Olympic stadium.
Two hundred and fifty dancers presented “A Journey to the Sun”, all staged around the tree, before the entry of the Paralympic Flame, carried around the stadium by eight Greek Paralympians.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said 3,846 athletes from 136 countries will compete in 19 sports over 11 days.
The ceremony featured a troupe of sign language interpreters, Greek singers and about 3,000 volunteer performers.
The names of countries marching in the parade of nations were announced in English Greek and in sign language.
The 70,000-seat Athens Olympic Stadium was filled to capacity
Phil Craven, President of the IPC said, “the real heroes of this evening are the athletes. We are here to celebrate you and your sport, but there is more to it than that. You are the beacon of inspiration for millions of people around the world”.
After Greek president Konstantinos Stephanopoulos officially opened the Games a 750-member choir sang in ancient Greek tunes.
The ceremony ended on the stroke of midnight with a brilliant display of fireworks that lit up the sky of Attica.
So far, there have been more than 397,000 tickets sold for the event with 50,054 tickets sold Friday. According to Athens 2004 they have covered 112.5 per cent of their budget target with a revenue if 5,502,795 euro.
As for transportation, a record was broken Friday with 15 waves of 15 buses each to transport 1,700 athletes with wheelchairs.
An important achievement for the IPC is the increase in participation of women in the Paralaympic Games. In Sydney 23 per cent of the participating athletes were women, while in Athens the number has increased to 30 per cent.
