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Jackie Chan among torchbearers for Paris Paralympics opening ceremony

Hong Kong-born martial arts icon Jackie Chan was announced on Sunday as one of the torchbearers for the upcoming Paralympics in Paris.

The 70-year-old actor, renowned for his daring stunts and acrobatic fight scenes, will carry the flame on Wednesday afternoon in the French capital, just hours before the opening ceremony, according to the organizing committee.

Joining Chan in the torch relay are French actress Elsa Zylberstein and dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied. Similar to the Olympic opening ceremony, Wednesday’s event will be held outside the Stade de France, featuring a parade down the Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde in central Paris.

The Paralympic flame, which was ignited on Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, UK—the historic birthplace of the Paralympic Games—arrived in France via the Channel Tunnel on Sunday, brought by wheelchair fencing medalist Emmanuelle Assmann.

“This is about embedding sport in the lives of people with disabilities,” said French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who welcomed the flame alongside Tony Estanguet, head of the organizing committee.

The flame will now continue its journey, where it will be “multiplied” into 12 Paralympic flames. These flames will be carried by 1,000 torchbearers across around 50 towns in 12 simultaneous relays, all converging on Paris for Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

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