PARIS (AP) — Just weeks after hosting the Olympics, Paris began the final chapter of its summer of sports Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

French President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the Games open in a ceremony held outside the confines of a stadium, just like when the Olympics opened in the city on July 26.

Against the backdrop of a setting sun, thousands of athletes paraded down the famed Champs-Elysées avenue to Place de la Concorde in central Paris.

About 50,000 people watched the ceremony in stands built around the iconic square, which is the biggest in Paris and is visible from afar because of its ancient Egyptian Obelisk. Accessibility for athletes in wheelchairs was facilitated with strips of asphalt laid along the avenue and placed over the square.

More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual impairments will compete in 22 sports from Thursday until Sept. 8.

Under the gaze of Macron, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons, fighter planes flew overhead, leaving red-white-and blue vapors in the colors of the French national flag, before the delegations entered the square in alphabetical order.

Some delegations were huge — more than 250 athletes from Brazil — and some were tiny — less than a handful from Barbados and just three from Myanmar.

Although Wednesday night’s show started at 8 p.m. local time, fans had gathered hours earlier under a scorching sun to get top spots along the way. As performers entertained the crowd on stage, volunteers danced alongside Paralympians as they waved their national flags and the sky gave off a postcard-perfect orange glow.

Ukraine’s delegation got a loud cheer and some of the crowd stood to applaud them.

The French delegation arrived last and to roars from the crowd, which then sang along to popular French songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by late rocker Johnny Hallyday.

Lucky Love, a French singer who lost his left arm at birth, was joined by performers in wheelchairs when he sang on stage. Then, as the national anthem played, the Obelisk lit up in the colors of the French flag.

Organizers had promised another spectacular show to open the Games. Once again it was held outside of a stadium, but unlike the rain-soaked Olympic opening ceremony on July 26, which featured a boat parade on the Seine River, the Paralympic ceremony was exclusively on land.

Organizers say more than 2 million of the 2.8 million tickets have been sold for the various Paralympic events.

Tony Estanguet, the president of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, called Paralympians “immense champions who we have the honor of being with tonight.”

The first medals handed out on Thursday will be in taekwondo, table tennis, swimming and track cycling. Athletes are grouped by impairment levels to ensure as level a playing field as possible. Only two sports, goalball and boccia, don’t have an Olympic equivalent.

Parsons said that the big crowds expected in Paris will mean a lot to the athletes, many of whom competed in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parsons hoped the Paralympics would serve “as a powerful force for good” amid ongoing global tensions.

The closing ceremony will be held at Stade de France, the national stadium.

But the U.S. topped the medals table with a whopping 126 overall, compared to 91 for China. At the Tokyo Games, the U.S. also edged China in the medal count, finishing with 113 overall and 39 golds, compared to 89 medals with 38 gold for China.

Who was supposed to lead the medal count at the Paris Games?

According to Nielsen’s Gracenote virtual medal-table forecast, which collected results data from big competitions since the Tokyo Games, the top five for overall medals in Paris was going to be as follows: The U.S. (112 overall medals); China (86); Britain (63); France (60) and Australia (54).

The U.S. did top the medals table. However, the U.S. and China both upped their gold and overall medal counts.

Japan proved the virtual predictors wrong by sneaking into third place with 20 golds among its 45 medals.

France and Australia were in the top five as predicted, but the other way around.

Skateboard star Keegan Palmer helped Australia go fourth with 18 golds among 53 medals, while fifth-place France tallied 16 golds among its 64 medals.

Britain got more medals than in Tokyo — 65 to 64 — but had less golds and was seventh overall behind the Netherlands.

Here’s a closer look at the some of the nations:

Great haul of China, as team dominates diving

When Cao Yuan defended his title in the men’s 10-meter platform on Saturday, it gave his nation an unprecedented sweep of the diving gold medals.

China won all eight golds handed out at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

China won five golds in each of shooting, table tennis and weightlifting, with China’s victory in the team event in table tennis giving the country its 300th gold in Olympic history.

Golds galore for USA on track, but no medal in women’s water polo

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles as the U.S. won 14 golds in track and field.

Noah Lyles won a historically close men’s 100-meter race, and Gabrielle Thomas took the women’s 200. Quincy Hall won the men’s 400 at a Stade de France, which grew accustomed to hearing the American national anthem.

Gymnastics star Simone Biles added to her growing fame with four more medals, and the swimmers, led by another Olympic great in Katie Ledecky, grabbed eight golds.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams won their tournaments, both beating France in the finals. The U.S. women survived the biggest challenge of their unprecedented run to eight straight Olympic gold medals with a 67-66 win to close out competition at the Paris Games.

But the U.S. women’s water polo team went home empty handed after high expectations.

France exceed expectations

Led by the brilliant performances of Léon Marchand, who finished with five medals overall, Les Bleus won one more gold than Atlanta in 1996 and nearly doubled their 33 medals overall from the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Rugby star Antoine Dupont got the ball bouncing by leading France to gold in the rugby sevens, then Marchand took over.

Heavyweight judo star Teddy Riner added another gold as the French judo team walked away with a whopping 10 medals.

The men’s handball team disappointed, though, failing to get a medal when defending their title, although the women did get silver.

The track and field team only got one medal late on, however, with Cyrena Samba-Mayela getting silver in the women’s 110 hurdles on Saturday.

Who else made an impression?

Four of Germany’s 12 gold medals came in equestrian, with veteran dressage rider Isabell Werth extending her Olympic equestrian record to 14 medals.

Teen sensation Summer McIntosh got three swimming gold medals and a silver for Canada, which ended the Games with nine golds among its 27 medals.

One of Sweden’s four golds came from pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who stunned the 80,000 fans at Stade de France by breaking his own world record.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic won an emotional gold medal for Serbia, which again won the men’s water polo final and finished with three golds among its five medals.

Imane Khelif won one of Algeria’s two golds, emerging from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny over her sex.

Manu Bhaker earned two of India’s six medals. The 22-year-old became the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting, taking a bronze in 10-meter air pistol and adding another in the mixed team event.

It begins with the women’s marathon in the morning and continues with the men’s handball final between Denmark and Germany. The women’s volleyball final sees the Americans defending their title against first-time finalist Italy.

Competition concludes with host France facing the U.S. in the women’s basketball final. The Americans are trying to become the first team — in any sport — to win eight consecutive Olympic gold medals, breaking a tie with the U.S. men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.

Here’s a guide of what to look out for:

The women run the Sunday marathon

Breaking from tradition, the women are running the Olympic marathon on the last day instead of the men, who raced Saturday. The marathon route has both a symbolic and historic feel since it traces the footsteps of the historic Women’s March on Versailles, which took place during the French Revolution in 1789. Kenyan runners have won the past two editions. The race begins at 8 a.m. CEST (2 a.m. EDT).

Breanna Stewart and USA basketball go for another gold

The French women face a tall order to win their first Olympic gold medal in basketball at 3:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. EDT. They must beat Breanna Stewart and the seven-time defending champion United States at Bercy Arena. The U.S women are looking to win their 10th gold since the women’s competition started at the 1976 Games. The final is a rematch from the London 2012 title showdown, which France lost. In the bronze-medal game, Belgium faces Australia.

US defends a women’s volleyball title, too

The US women defend their gold against Italy, which is appearing in its first final and is guaranteed a first medal. Its previous best finish was fifth. Outside hitters Myriam Sylla and Loveth Omoruyi will look to cause an upset. The match starts at 1 p.m. CEST (7 a.m. EDT)

Modern pentathlon includes equestrian for the final time

The picturesque Palace of Versailles sees the conclusion of the women’s individual final at 12:40 p.m. CEST (6:40 a.m. EDT). Showjumping features at the Olympics for the last time in pentathlon before being scrapped in favor of an American Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course race. There’s also fencing, swimming and a laser run — a dynamic event combining laser pistol shooting and running laps.

Also of note

Denmark goes for its second Olympic title in men’s handball when it faces 2016 bronze medalist Germany at Pierre Mauroy Stadium at 1:30 p.m. CEST (7:30 a.m. EDT). … Two-time defending Olympic champion Serbia takes on 2012 champion Croatia for in water polo at 2 p.m. CEST (8 a.m. EDT). … Track cycling concludes with the women’s sprint and omnium and with the men’s keirin at the record-breaking Olympic velodrome, all starting between 1:15 p.m. CEST (7:15 a.m. EDT) and 2 p.m. CEST (8 a.m. EDT).

What to watch at the closing ceremony

All eyes will be on what director Thomas Jolly has created this time after the flamboyant open-air opening ceremony. The closing ceremony features the athletes’ parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games. It will also include over 100 performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists on a huge stage.

The ceremony starts at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. EDT).

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — flanked by drag artists and dancers.

Religious conservatives from around the world decried the segment, with the French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops deploring “scenes of derision” that they said made a mockery of Christianity — a sentiment echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its “deep regret” Sunday, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to “lose its distinctive sporting identity and its humanitarian message.”

The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly had said it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy. Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news conference on Sunday.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said. “Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press after the ceremony.

“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly said. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”

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