At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,the New Zealand Paralympic Team is ready to give the Kiwis "something to talk about". Paralympian Cameron Leslie MNZM and Paralympian Anna Grimaldi MNZM will carry the flag on Thursday. The team will comprise 25 Paralympic athletes and 41 support staff. They will compete in eight sports - two more than at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

With 11 athletes making their Paralympic debut and 14 Paralympians who have competed at previous Games, the New Zealand Paralympic team is a mix of youth and experience.

They include Paralympian Michael Johnson MNZM (Para Sport Shooting), who will be competing in his sixth Paralympic Games. He equals the record for participation by a New Zealander held by Paralympian Graham Condon QSM (who competed from 1968 to 1988).

Since Wednesday 21 August, the New Zealand Paralympic Team has been based in the main and satellite Paralympic Villages in Châteauroux.

Each team member will be welcomed into the Paralympic Village with a pounamu and a waiata in a moving ceremony. The ceremony will be supported by the New Zealand Paralympic Team's Cultural and Tikanga Pou Tuarā, Kelly James.

New Zealand Paralympic Team Chef de Mission, Raylene Bates, said: "It is always difficult to make many predictions in elite sport, but we cannot ask more of the athletes than to achieve a personal best or reach a final. Winning a medal is just the icing on the cake. We look forward to the Kiwi athletes giving the people of the French capital something to talk about.

The team of 11 women and 14 men includes 62-year-old Paralympian Greg Reid, who will become the oldest New Zealand Paralympian ever. He surpasses Paralympian Jan Apel, who was 61 when she competed in Para Sailing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Reid, who lives in Featherston and works full-time as a mass metrologist, made his Paralympic debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. "I'm both humbled and proud to be representing Aotearoa on such a big stage," adds Greg. He will be competing in the R3 Mixed Air Rifle Probe SH1 and R6 Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 events.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Paralympian Gabriella 'Gaby' Smith is the youngest member of theNew Zealand Paralympic Team at Paris 2024. The 18-year-old swimmer from Christchurch is thrilled with the opportunity.

"I'm incredibly excited for the Paralympic Games; the Olympians had their turn in Paris and it was spectacular and I can't wait," says Gaby, who will be competing in three events at Paris 2024: the Women's 100m Breaststroke SB9, the Women's 400m Freestyle S10 and the Women's 200m Individual Medley SM10.

Two Kiwi athletes will be competing on the opening day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Para cyclist Nicole Murray will compete in the Women's C4-5 500m Time Trial on Thursday (29 August). Also on Thursday (29 August), Paralympian Wojtek Czyz will face Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in his opening Group B match in the Men's Para Badminton SL3 singles.