Two million tickets sold ahead of Paralympics in Paris

Approximately two million tickets have been sold for the Paralympics in Paris ahead of Wednesday's opening ceremony.

The Games will be launched on Wednesday evening when athletes parade along the Champs-Elysees to Place de la Concorde in the heart of the French capital.

Although around 500,000 tickets remain available, organisers are optimistic sales will continue for the duration of competition, which starts on Thursday.

Track cycling and triathlon events have sold out, while additional tickets have been made available for some of the other popular sports, namely wheelchair fencing, taekwondo, equestrian, shooting and blind football.

Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet told a press conference: "Out of the 2.5million tickets available, we already sold around two million tickets, so that’s good.

"We know that we will continue to sell tickets over the next days, probably until the end of the Games.

"It was the case for the Olympics, we sold tickets until the last day, even the last hour, and that’s been quite exciting for us to see that fans until the end were excited and really wanted to take the last opportunities.

"There are still around 500,000 tickets available, in many sports, so don’t hesitate to seize those opportunities."

The Games will feature a record 168 national Paralympic committees, including the refugee team and debutants Eritrea, Kosovo and Kiribati.

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons described the atmosphere in the athlete village as "very, very positive" and said every competitor seemed "very happy".

"I have often been saying that these are going to be the most spectacular Games ever," he said. "I truly believe that and, after being here during the Olympics, I have no doubt about it.

"It’s