Paris Paralympics opening ceremony, Zheng Qinwen marches on, goals galore in Cardiff
The curtain was raised on the final act of a summer of sport in the French capital, while three China players are into the US Open third round
There are journalists, athletes, coaches, support staff and countless others still waking up in a cold sweat thinking about the Paris Olympics, about the pressure to succeed, to meet deadlines, to ensure everything was perfect – and some are about to do it all again.
While large parts of the world was asleep, the Paris Paralympics got under way, signalling the start of another 11 days of startlingly impressive athletic endeavour.
With the US Open and the nightly dose of football we are destined to be fed from now until two weeks in July next year, here is what happened while you were sleeping.
Welcome to Paris, Take 2
The French can, it turns out, put on an opening ceremony that everyone enjoys when the fancy takes them, and it’s only fair we give credit where it’s due, given the less-than-polite things said about their previous efforts.
And while it would have been hard to make a hash of an opening ceremony that turned the Place de la Concord and the Champs-Élysées into one huge outdoor stadium, artistic director Thomas Jolly had previously used a blue Dionysius and various sexual innuendos to welcome the world to the Olympic Games, so anything was possible.
As it was, responsibility for the Paralympics kick-off party was handed over to Alexander Ekman, who weaved in the challenges the athletes face in their day-to-day lives with a celebration of what they have achieved and will do so this week and next.
The flame went up in the same manner as it had done before, but the songs, speeches and theatrical performances meant the three-plus hours mercifully passed far quicker than in the earlier version.
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry
