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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
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Evening Standard Comment

OPINION - The Standard View: Let the Paralympic Games begin!

the Paralympic Games Sir Keir Starmer Paris European Union Place de la Concorde

The Paralympic Games are no one’s idea of an “after show”. Some 65,000 spectators are set to descend on Paris this evening to watch athletes from more than 180,000 nations head along the Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde before the competitions commence tomorrow.

Paralympics GB, which has finished second in the medal table at the past two Games, is raring to go. As in Tokyo three years ago, it is competing in 19 of the 22 sports, with cycling, canoe and rowing all boasting their biggest ever squads. Competitors include 13-year-old swimmer Iona Winnifrith and 54-year-old Para canoe multiple medallist Jeanette Chippington, appearing in her eighth games since making her debut in swimming at Seoul back in 1988.

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