AMNA NAWAZ: The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games kicked off today with an Opening Ceremony in the heart of Paris that featured aerial displays, dancers and a major spectacle attended by more than 60,000 people.

Thousands of athletes with disabilities are preparing for what promises to be a stunning display of athleticism over 11 days.

Stephanie Sy has more.

STEPHANIE SY: More than 4,400 athletes from around the world will take center stage in the French capital to compete for 549 medals in 22 sports, including wheelchair fencing, blind soccer, and much more.

The games are a testament to human ability and the capacity to thrive despite physical, mental, or intellectual impairments.

And for the next 11 days, we see athletes push their bodies and their minds to the limits in the quest for gold.

Joining us to talk about the Games is Rudy Garcia-Tolson, a four-time Paralympian, five-time Paralympic medalist and program manager at the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Rudy, it's a pleasure to have you on the "News Hour."

So the Opening Ceremonies have concluded and now the Games begin.

It seems like there has been a real effort in the messaging around these Games to say, let's stop focusing on disability and focus on winning and competition, like we would with any other athletes.

Are you seeing that shift?

RUDY GARCIA-TOLSON, Challenged Athletes Foundation: Absolutely.

Over the past 20 years, the Paralympic movement has grown tremendously.

The understanding that, although we may have a physical disability, we want you to pay attention to the athletic achievements that we're all here to watch.

And being part of a Paralympic team, obviously, these Paralympic athletes from around the world have overcome a lot, especially with their physical challenge.

But when you're watching the Games here this week, we want you to put aside a disability and focus on the achievements of sport.

And I think that's what we're here to do.

STEPHANIE SY: And how is Team USA looking going into these Games, Rudy?

I know they haven't historically been at the top of the medal count for the Paralympics and that the Chinese are always a big rival for the overall medal count.

RUDY GARCIA-TOLSON: The Chinese Paralympic Committee has done a tremendous job with having one of the best Paralympic teams every summer.

For the past four or five Paralympic Games, the Chinese have been number one in the medal count by a lot.

But that doesn't count -- we're not going to count out the USA.

The United States, we have a very young team.

We also have a few veterans who have been around for five or six Paralympic Games.

And we're looking good to be in top three in the medal count.

But it still just shows you the amount of support that we have received as Paralympic athletes here in the United States.

One of the most popular stories is that the Olympic Committee changed your name to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which is something that us Paralympic athletes have been fighting for over 20 years.

And I really do believe the support and the attention for Paralympic athletes have tremendously increased.

But I think the benchmark will be here when the Paralympics and Olympics come to Los Angeles in four short years.

STEPHANIE SY: So, when it comes to the resources that go into training Paralympic athletes, the coaching, the facilities, it sounds like you still feel that fall short with -- compared to the support given to able-bodied Olympians.

RUDY GARCIA-TOLSON: You know, I would say it's a movement where we're always striving for better.

And although the United States has -- the United States Paralympic team has one of the best support systems in the world, we're always looking to improve.

And the support that us athletes receive to train and have facilities has increased tremendously across the country.

There are a number of Paralympic training sites where individuals can go and focus on their training.

But I think one of the most important changes that we have seen over the last few years is the medal bonuses that athletes will receive.

Now Paralympic athletes will receive the same amount financially that our Olympic teammates receive, which really speaks volume to how the public and their organizations are coming around to understand that Paralympic athletes train just as hard as any of our Olympic teammates.

And I think we're going to see that here in the next two weeks in Paris.

STEPHANIE SY: And that certainly shows in the ticket sales.

I understand that more than two million tickets to Paralympic events have sold in Paris.

That will make it among the largest Paralympic audiences, I believe, in history, speaking of which, Rudy, I understand you yourself have competed and won in four different Olympics in swimming, as well in running, without legs.

So I have to ask you this.

What impact did it have on your life to train, compete and win at the Paralympics?

RUDY GARCIA-TOLSON: Well, being in the pursuit of going to the Paralympics has been a dream of mine since I was 6 years old, shortly after I had my legs amputated through the knee.

And when I got my legs amputated, I got my first pair of prosthetics, the first sport I got into was swimming.

I love swimming because I could take my legs off.

But I was known as the boy with no legs on my swim team.

And I wanted to prove them wrong.

So my first goal was to beat kids with legs.

And from that one goal sent me on a path of competition and really getting to the Paralympic elite level.

And I think a lot of the Paralympians in Paris today have overcome similar challenges, where they're looked at as different.

But when they get out on the playing field or in the pool or on the track, they really show that they have amazing talent and that sometimes in life we go through challenges, whether you can see them or not.

We're all human.

We're all the same.

We have good days and bad days.

And I think the message we want to get across to the general public is that, whether you have a good day or a bad day, whether you're facing challenges -- sometimes, you can't see them.

Sometimes, you can see them in my case.

It's always, always, always important to remain positive and have that attitude of, yes, I can.

And when you have a support team, when you have individuals around you supporting you, encouraging you, the sky is the limit.

STEPHANIE SY: I think a lot of us needed to hear that message.

Rudy Garcia-Tolson with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, thanks so much.

RUDY GARCIA-TOLSON: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we will have much more coverage of the Paralympics online.

On our YouTube page right now, three things you need to know about this year's Paralympic Games, including how they first began in the mid-1900s.