- Torch relay to start from Games hometown in Britain

The 2024 Paralympics torch relay will begin in Stoke Mandeville, Britain, the birthplace of the event, according to organizers. Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet stated at a press conference that they wanted the relay to start where the Paralympics originated. The torch will be carried by 24 British athletes and then handed over to 24 French athletes in the middle of the Channel Tunnel on their way to Calais. In France, eleven additional flames will be lit, and all of them will converge in Paris for the opening ceremony of the Games on August 28. Ludwig Guttmann, a neurologist who conceptualized the event in 1948, organized the first Stoke Mandeville Games for disabled war veterans. Guttmann, originally from Germany, became a British citizen in 1945. The Paralympics will take place from August 28 to September 8 and will commence with a ceremony at the Place de la Concorde following the athletes’ procession on the Champs Elysees. The article was reported by Julien Pretot and edited by Ken Ferris. The Thomson RushHourDaily Trust Principles apply.