The President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Andrew Parsons, has declared that "the Paralympic Games in Paris will be the most spectacular in history".

The Brazilian head of the IPC made this declaration in an interview with the Spanish media outlet Servimedia, following his participation in the 17th European Congress of Adapted Physical Activity (Eucapa 2024).

This important event took place at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, where he also had the honour of delivering a remarkable speech on the Paralympic Games, highlighting them as "the most transformative event on the planet".

During the conference, he also explained the role of science and research in achieving this.

Parsons explained that the Paralympic Games in Paris, scheduled for 28 August to 8 September, will take place with "the spectators back", after Tokyo 2020 was held with minimal spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that "Paralympic sport is stronger than ever" and Paris is a "fantastic city" that will host events in "iconic venues" such as blind football under the Eiffel Tower, equestrian events in the gardens of Versailles and fencing and taekwondo at the Grand Palais.

Parsons highlighted the "impact" the Paris Paralympics will have, as they will be broadcast in nearly 170 countries around the world, reaching a cumulative audience of around 4.2 billion people, more than previous editions.

"We are in the final stages of the athlete classification process," he said, noting that around one million tickets have already been sold to watch the Paralympic events in the French capital. "We are experiencing a very similar sales curve to London 2012," he added.

Parsons went on to say that the international Paralympic movement is "inextricably linked" to human rights, with the launch of the 'WeThe15' campaign during Tokyo 2020, given that around 1.2 billion people worldwide (15% of the population) have some form of disability.

He also emphasised that one of the goals is for the Paris Games to be the most gender-balanced Paralympics in history, with an expected 45% of athletes being women, surpassing the historic record of 42% achieved at Tokyo 2020.

Parsons stressed that the Paris Paralympics will leave an "interesting legacy", with increased accessibility on the metro, adapted buses and a multi-million dollar accessibility plan for public spaces across France.

On the sports front, Parsons noted that Spanish Paralympic swimmer Teresa Perales could make history at Paris 2024 if she wins a medal. 

"If the 48-year-old Para athlete wins a medal, she will equal legendary swimmer Michael Phelps, who is the most decorated Olympic athlete in history with 28 medals," Parsons said.

"It would be fantastic if she could surpass Michael Phelps in medals and people could see it on television. I think it would be incredible and an example for generations of athletes not only in Spain but also for women with disabilities," added Parsons, referring to the Zaragoza-born athlete who has won medals from her debut at Sydney 2000 to Tokyo 2020.

The athlete, who lost mobility from the waist down at the age of 19 due to neuropathy, has won 27 medals in her illustrious career, seven of them gold.