Paul McCartney song kicks off 100-day countdown to Paralympic Games opening ceremony in Paris

GENEVA (AP) — With the help of Paul McCartney, the Paralympic Games will begin their 100-day run Monday until the opening ceremony in Paris in August.

The former Beatle let “We All Stand Together” – the title song from an award-winning animated film he wrote and produced 40 years ago – be used in a promotional film for the International Paralympic Committee.

“Sir Paul really understands what we stand for as a movement and he has been very generous to us,” IPC president Andrew Parsons told the Associated Press. “It wasn’t difficult to convince him, it was something that came very naturally.”

In 100 days from Monday, the opening ceremony of the Summer Paralympic Games, on August 28, will take place on part of the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde. The 4,400 participating athletes will compete over the next 11 days in front of up to 2.7 million spectators at venues including those under the Eiffel Tower and at the Palace of Versailles.

“We probably have the most famous avenue in the world,” Parsons said in a recent interview. “It’s really exciting. The city really welcomes Paralympic athletes and athletes with disabilities.

“With our games we talk a lot about inclusion and this is a good symbol of that. This very welcoming attitude is, I think, a very good start to our matches.

A turning point for the Paralympic movement came in London in 2012 when the host country rose to the occasion with huge ticket sales and a radically new approach to broadcasting the Games by Britain’s Channel 4.

“These remain the benchmark matches of our movement,” said Parsons, whose home country Brazil hosted in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

To promote the Rio Paralympic Games, Channel 4 produced the musical film “We’re the Superhumans” which was a milestone of high production values ​​and inspiring imagery.

“A lot of broadcasters come to us as part of their preparations in different parts of the world and usually ask: ‘What is Channel 4 doing?’ “, Parsons said. The IPC trailer inspired by McCartney’s “Rupert and the Frog Song” continues this tradition.

The Paris Paralympic Games will feature a record 164 broadcasters worldwide covering 549 events in 22 sports.

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