GENEVA – On Monday, the Paralympic Games begin their 100-day journey to the opening ceremony in Paris in August, with Paul McCartney assisting.
The former Beatles’ “We All Stand Together” — the theme song from an award-winning animated short he created and produced 40 years ago — will be featured in a promotional film for the International Paralympic Committee
“Sir Paul really understands what we stand for as a movement, and he was extremely generous to us,” IPC president Andrew Parsons told The Associated Press. “He was not difficult to convince, it was something that came very naturally.”
Paul McCartney Song Starts Paralympics On 100-Day Countdown To Opening Ceremony In Paris
On August 28, 100 days from Monday, the Summer Paralympics opening ceremony will occur along a stretch of the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde. Over the next 11 days, the 4,400 athletes will compete in places such as the Eiffel Tower and Versailles Palace in front of up to 2.7 million spectators.
“We probably have the most famous avenue in the world,” Parsons stated in a recent interview. “That is very exciting. The city is really supporting Paralympic athletes and athletes with impairments.”
“With our games, we talk a lot about inclusion, and this is a fantastic representation of that. That extremely inviting attitude is a great way to start our games.
A watershed moment for the Paralympic movement occurred in London in 2012 when the host country rose to the occasion with record ticket sales and a completely new approach to broadcasting by Britain’s Channel 4.
“Still the benchmark games of our movement,” added Parsons, whose native country of Brazil staged the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro.
Paul McCartney Song Starts Paralympics On 100-Day Countdown To Opening Ceremony In Paris
Channel 4 produced the “We’re the Superhumans” musical film to promote the Rio Paralympics. The film was a landmark in terms of its high production values and inspirational imagery.
“Many broadcasters come to us in their preparations in different parts of the world and they normally ask, ‘What is Channel 4 doing?'” Parsons stated. In that vein, the IPC trailer, inspired by McCartney’s “Rupert and the Frog Song” film, follows suit.
The Paris Paralympics will record 164 broadcasters worldwide, with 549 events across 22 sports.
Beyond the field of play, the Paralympics strive to change society, particularly in the host nation—and have previously achieved this.
In France and Paris, Parsons admitted that “there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to people’s mindsets and perceptions of people with disabilities.”
“It has progressed since they received the games in 2017, but there is still a long way to go. “And it does not end with the closing ceremony.”
Two weeks after the Paralympics end on September 8, the United Nations conducts a global gathering that Parsons hopes will spark change.
Paul McCartney Song Starts Paralympics On 100-Day Countdown To Opening Ceremony In Paris
The UN will assess progress toward its 17 sustainable development objectives during the Summit of the Future, which will occur on September 22 and 23.
“We do believe our movement has, in terms of persons of disability, been a little bit left behind, if you compare to other human rights movements such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity,” Parsons stated. “They have become increasingly prominent in the major debates at the highest level.
“We believe that these (Paris) games will be able to really remind global leaders that there is 1.2 billion persons with disabilities out there that need to be included in those conversations.”
SOURCE – (AP)
