The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games have started in Paris with the Opening Ceremony held at the Place de la Concorde. Berik Izmaganbetov, a sitting volleyball player, and Sevda Aliyeva, a shooter, carried the national flag of Kazakhstan.
A record-breaking delegation of 44 athletes is representing Kazakhstan this year, 18 more than during the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Kazakhstanis will compete in nine sports: Para judo, Para powerlifting, Para taekwondo, Para athletics, shooting Para sport, Para table tennis, Para swimming, Para canoe and sitting volleyball.
This is the first time athletes from Kazakhstan participated in a table tennis tournament and female Para canoe. The national team started competing for medals today, with Milana Krasavtseva competing in a taekwondo sparring match and the national sitting volleyball team facing their first game against France.
Paris has already hosted the Olympic Games three times, but this is its first time hosing the Paralympics. Over 11 days, more than 4,400 athletes from all over the world are competing in 22 sports and 549 disciplines this year. Even though there are no new sports added, Para badminton, which debuted in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, is on the list once again.
Kazakhstani national team includes some former Games’ medalists such as Zulfiya Gabidullina (gold), David Degtyaryov (gold), Raushan Koishibayeva (silver) and Nurdaulet Zhumagali (bronze).
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov personally entrusted the flag of Kazakhstan to the national Paralympic team, expressing confidence that the athletes would represent the country with dignity on the international sports stage, winning new medals, as reported by the government.
