The Paris 2024 Paralympics are officially open! We attended the Opening Ceremonies...and we have opinions on the show, which in a first-ever moment for the Paralympics, took the Opening Ceremonies out of the stadium and put it in the heart of the city (in a temporary stadium, but let's not get too in the weeds with that detail).

The ceremony covered a lot of ground over a long span of time, and the athletes marched down the Champs-Élysées into the stadium to great fanfare, which was a lot of fun to see. The torch arrived, had a long moment on stage, and then torchbearers got it to the Tuileries to turn on the hot air balloon that took back its rightful place in the Parisian night sky.

We each had a cultural adventure today--Jill saw part of the torch relay, while Alison went to Team USA's High Performance Center. We report back on those trips. Also, mixed zone tape with Marcel Hug and Matt Stutzman from Jill's trip to the Paralympic Village round out the episode.

Don't forget - the only way that we're able to bring you this unique look at the Games is thanks to donations from listeners like you. Please support us financially so that we can continue to keep our flame alive. We have many ways to support us -- and if you sign up as a paid Patreon member, you'll get exclusive content!

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!

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Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

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