Zambia to take part in Paris Games despite missing opening ceremony

PARIS :Zambia are expected to take part in the Paris Paralympics despite being omitted from the opening ceremony after they failed to confirm that they were travelling to the Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday.
The Zambia flag was nowhere to be seen as the athletes paraded down the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde on Wednesday in an event attended by some 50,000 people in a joyful atmosphere.
“The Zambia flag was not included in the parade. No one has arrived yet, we’ve had zero communication in the last few days so we told them if you don’t confirm your travelling (plans) and show us your tickets, we will remove the flag,” IPC spokesperson Craig Spence told a press conference.
“We had nothing but this morning in our inbox was proof that they were coming,” Spence added, without elaborating on the date of arrival of the Zambia delegation.
Two athletes from Zambia are scheduled to participate in the Games, with their para-athletics events taking place on Sept. 4 and 5.
The opening ceremony will spark fan enthusiasm for the Games, said Paris 2024 director of ceremony Thierry Reboul.
Wednesday’s event was watched by more than 10 million people on French TV.
“We know how important a ceremony is to trigger popular enthusiasm,” Reboul told a press conference on Thursday.
“There is an unprecedented appetite for the Paralympics as people want the party to continue (after the Olympics).”
Spence hailed the opening ceremony as “the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my life”.
“It was the best (Paralympics opening ceremony) by some distance and I don’t think that’s only my view. The feedback was phenomenal. (IPC president) Andrew (Parsons) is absolutely buzzing, he has a huge smile on his face.
“That sets the bar for the upcoming Games. Overall it was the most magnificent opening ceremony,” he said of the event, which was held outside a stadium for the first time.
Paris 2024 has sold 2.1 million of 2.5 million tickets available. With an additional 300,000 reserve tickets to be released, the Games could surpass the record of the 2.7 million tickets sold at London 2012.