What to know for the Paralympic Games

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Two and a half weeks after the Paris Olympic Games came to a close, the City of Light is set to host the world's largest event for athletes with various motor, sensory and intellectual disabilities and impairments.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games officially begin Wednesday with another imaginative opening ceremony featuring around 4,400 athletes from 182 delegations. There are no boats this time, but Paralympic athletes will get to experience their own open-air parade of nations as they march along the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. There, in front of some 65,000 spectators, they'll take in a show directed by Thomas Jolly — the same guy who put together the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Here's more on the festivities. 

The Canadian flag will be carried by longtime Paralympians Pat Anderson and Katarina Roxon, who were awarded the honour today by the Canadian Paralympic Committee. 

Anderson, a 45-year-old wheelchair basketball player, is appearing in his sixth Games. He helped Canada win gold in 2000, 2004 and 2012, when he scored 34 points to beat Australia in the final. That was the last time Canada reached the podium, but Anderson remains a key player. He scored 23 points in a must-win qualifying game last spring to give his team a spot in Paris.

Roxon, 31, is competing in her fifth Paralympic Games — the most ever by a Canadian women's swimmer. She won an individual gold medal in 2016 in Rio and added a relay bronze three years ago in Tokyo.

Competition starts Thursday and runs for 11 days, through Sept. 8. There will be a total of 549 events in