Among the big global names in Paris is Brazil's Petrúcio Ferreira, the world's fastest Paralympian, who hopes to retain his T47 100m title. His world record is 10.29 seconds.
Germany's Markus Rehm – known as the plate jumper – is going for his fourth Paralympic long jump title in the T64 category.
His world record long jump of 8.72 meters is ninth all-time. His 2024 best was 8.44m – which would have won him Olympic silver in Paris and gold at the previous four Games.
In para-athletics, Valentina Petrillo has been selected to represent Italy in the D12 category for visually impaired athletes, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympics.
Petrillo, who will switch in 2019 and run the 200m and 400m, told BBC Sport that taking part in the Games would be a “key sign of inclusion”.
However, in 2021, more than 30 female athletes signed a petition addressed to the president of the Italian Athletics Federation and to the Ministries of Equal Opportunities and Sports, challenging Petrillo's right to compete in women's races.
Like the Olympics, Russia and its ally Belarus are banned from sending athletes to the games amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
However, some Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate as neutrals – the Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA) group will consist of 90 competitors from Russia and eight competitors from Belarus.
All NPA were independently vetted to ensure they did not support the war and were not contracted to the military.
Eight athletes representing the Paralympic Refugee Team will compete in the K44 -47kg Para-Taekwondo event in Zakia Kutadadi on Thursday. Born in Afghanistan, he represented his country in Tokyo after being safely evacuated days before the Games.
Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo are three countries participating in the Paralympics for the first time.
