Where & How to Watch the Paralympics for Free in 2024
With the Paralympic games just around the corner, you'll want to be prepared with your streaming options. We've put together a complete guide, including the schedule, streaming options and a step-by-step guide on how to watch the Paralympics for free.
Written by Sandra Pattison (Writer, Editor)
Reviewed by Brett Day (Writer, Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-09-05T17:16:24+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Key Takeaways: How to Watch the Paris 2024 Paralympics
- Sign up for a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, which has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Connect to a server in a country with free Paralympic coverage, like the U.K., Australia, New Zealand or France.
- Watch the Paralympics for free on a service like Channel 4 (U.K.), 9Now (AU), TVNZ+ (NZ) or France TV.
What to Know About the Paris Para Athletics:
- Start & Finish Dates: The Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games opening ceremony is on Wednesday, August 28, with events starting the very next day. The closing ceremony is on Sunday, September 8.
- Stream for Free: Not all Paralympics streaming options are free. Services like Channel 4 in the U.K., 9Now in Australia, TVNZ+ in New Zealand and France TV will show the games for free.
- Bypass Geoblocks: If you’re not in any of those countries, you can use a VPN to access them. ExpressVPN is the best option for this.
The 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics is almost here with more than 4,000 athletes ready to take part in 549 events over 22 sports. Coverage will be available on lots of different channels and services around the world, but only some offer it for free. In this guide, you can learn how to watch the Paralympics completely free online from anywhere in the world.
Something to keep in mind is that you can’t access just any service from any country. Geoblocks are put into place to stop this so that services and networks keep in line with their broadcast and copyright agreements.
That said, you can get around this by using a VPN (virtual private network). Using one will change your IP address to fool the service into thinking you’re in the same country. The best VPN for the job is ExpressVPN. Keep reading for how-to steps, the different streaming options available and the 2024 Paralympics schedule.
How to Watch the 2024 Paralympic Games Online Without Cable
If you don’t have cable, you can watch all of the Paralympic events live on Peacock in the U.S., with the service being dubbed by NBC Sports as the “most comprehensive Paralympic destination in U.S. media history.” More than 1500 hours across all 22 sports will be available to stream.
The NBC broadcast network has the rights to air the Paralympics in the U.S., with live coverage available on CNBC, NBC and USA Network — all of which are available via a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV. NBC coverage can also be accessed via the NBC Sports app and website. However, you’ll need to log in with cable or live TV streaming subscription credentials.
With all that said, you can’t stream the Paralympics for free in the U.S., but you can in other countries. For instance, Channel 4 in the U.K., France TV, 9Now in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand all have extensive live coverage of all the events and you can watch each service completely free.
The only snag is each service is restricted to its country, meaning you’ll need to use a VPN if you’re not physically there. We have steps on how to use a VPN to watch the Paralympics further down You can check which service fits you best in our detailed streaming table in the next section.
Para Athletics Streams: Where to Watch the Games Online
We’ve put together a table with some of the best streaming options for the Paralympic games. Note that some services with limited coverage may focus more on that country’s national team and athletes. Remember, if you’re not in the relevant country, you’ll need to use a VPN to gain access.
| Service: | Country | Free/Paid | Coverage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel 4 network | 🇬🇧 U.K. | Free | Over 1300 hours from all events | Live stream on Channel 4/More4 website or the Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube channel with multiple streams |
| 9Now | 🇦🇺 Australia | Free | All events with 20 live channels available | Also includes replays, highlights, behind-the-scenes content and athlete profiles |
| TVNZ+ | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | Free | 5 live channels to stream events | N/A |
| France TV | 🇫🇷 France | Free | All events. Continuous 24-hour and on-demand coverage | N/A |
| RTE Player | 🇮🇪 Ireland | Free | Live coverage on four digital channels | N/A |
| CBC Sports (CBC Gem)/RDS | 🇨🇦 Canada | Free | Select events | CBC coverage in English and French. RDS in French language. |
| TSN & Sportsnet | 🇨🇦 Canada | Paid | Select events | N/A |
| ARD/ZDF | 🇩🇪 Germany | Free | Daily coverage of select events, alternating between each channel | Live streams on sportschau.de and in the ZDF Media Library |
| RaiPlay | 🇮🇹 Italy | Free | Extensive coverage, with special focus on the Italian national teams and medals | Includes on-demand content of key events |
| RTVE | 🇪🇸 Spain | Free | Extensive coverage | N/A |
| ORF | 🇦🇹 Austria | Free | Extensive coverage | N/A |
| NBC/CNBC/USA Network | 🇺🇲 U.S. | Paid | Select events | Available on some live TV streaming services, including YouTube TV which has a free trial. |
| Peacock | 🇺🇲 U.S. | Paid | All events | N/A |
| Stan Sport | 🇦🇺 Australia | Paid | All events | Ad-free, live and on-demand content |
How to Watch the Summer Paralympics Free Online Outside the U.S.
This section will show you step-by-step instructions on how to access Channel 4 Paralympics coverage in the U.K. for free. You can also use it to access the Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube channel.
If you want to watch the events on a different service, simply connect to the relevant country server and access the service you want. We’ve used ExpressVPN for this example since it’s the best VPN for streaming sports, including the NBA and the U.S. Open.
- Subscribe to a VPN Service
Sign up for a VPN service that’s good for streaming, such as ExpressVPN. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which you can take advantage of to get a refund when you’re done.
- Install the VPN
Choose which device you want to watch the Paralympics on, then download and install the VPN app. Once it’s installed, open the app and log in.
- Connect to a U.K. Server
Connect to a server in the U.K., or a server in a different country if you want to watch the Paralympics elsewhere, such as New Zealand for TVNZ+ or Australia for 9Now.
- Create a Free Channel 4 (My4) Account
Go to the Channel 4 website and create a free account.
- Start Streaming Paralympic Events
Search for the Paralympics on Channel 4 and click on the stream you want to watch.
The Best VPNs to Stream Paralympics Coverage in 2024
There are plenty of VPNs on the market, but not all are a great choice for streaming and bypassing geoblocks. The chosen VPN should have fast speeds, great unblocking ability and servers in the same country as the service you want to access. Here are our top picks for the Paralympics.
- ExpressVPN — The best VPN for streaming due to fast speeds, reliable unblocking ability and servers in 105 countries. It has an easy-to-use app and is secure. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, too. You can learn more in our full ExpressVPN review.
- NordVPN — An affordable, secure and fast VPN with great unblocking capability and servers in more than 100 countries. Its mobile server map is a little tricky to use, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you don’t like it. Read our NordVPN review for more details.
- PrivadoVPN — A free VPN that can access streaming services easily, but you’re limited to 10GB of data per month and servers in 10 countries — includes the U.K., France, Canada and Germany for free streaming. Read our PrivadoVPN review for more information.
Paris Paralympics 2024 Dates
Below is a simplified schedule for the 2024 Paralympics, showing the time and location for each sport.
| Date: | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 28 | Opening ceremony | Champs-Elysées & Place de la Concorde |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 5 | Para-Archery | Invalides |
| Aug. 30 – Sept. 8 | Para-Athletics | Stade de France |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 2 | Para-Badminton | Porte de la Chapelle Arena |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 5 | Boccia | South Paris Arena |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 8 | Wheelchair Basketball | Bercy Arena |
| Sept. 6 – Sept. 8 | Para-Canoe | Vaires-Sur-Marne-Nautical stadium |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 7 | Para-Cycling | Track — Saint-Quentin-En Yvelines Vélodrome Road — Clichy-Sous-Bois |
| Sept. 3 – Sept. 7 | Para-Equestrian | Château de Versailles |
| Sept. 3 – Sept. 7 | Wheelchair Fencing | Grand Palais |
| Sept. 1 – Sept. 7 | Football 5-a-Side | Eiffel Tower Stadium |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 5 | Goalball | South Paris Arena |
| Sept. 5 – Sept. 7 | Para-Judo | Champ de Mars Arena |
| Sept. 4 – Sept. 8 | Para-Powerlifting | Porte de la Chapelle Arena |
| Aug. 30 – Sept. 1 | Para-Rowing | Vaires-Sur-Marne-Nautical stadium |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 2 | Wheelchair Rugby | Champ de Mars Arena |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 7 | Para-Swimming | Para La Defense Arena |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 7 | Para-Table Tennis | South Paris Arena |
| Aug. 29 – Aug. 31 | Para-Taekwondo | Grand Palais |
| Aug. 30 – Sept. 7 | Wheelchair Tennis | Roland Garros Stadium |
| Sept. 1 – Sept. 2 | Para-Triathlon | Pont Alexandre III |
| Aug. 30 – Sept. 5 | Shooting Para-Sport | Chateauroux Shooting Centre |
| Aug. 29 – Sept. 7 | Sitting Volleyball | North Paris Arena |
| Sept. 8 | Closing ceremony | Stade de France |
Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Medal Events
We’ve provided separate schedules for each sport so you can easily track your favorite event. It highlights each event date and also shows the gold medal events. Team USA currently holds the most Paralympic medals, totaling 2,616. Let’s see how many medals each country gets this year.
Paralympic Event Schedule by Sport
| Event competitions | |
| 🥇 | Gold medal events |
When Is the Paris Paralympics Opening Ceremony?
The 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony takes place on Wednesday, August 28 and starts at 8:00 p.m. local time (11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. ET).
It should last for three hours and, like the 2024 Olympics opener, it won’t take place in a stadium. However, instead of a parade of boats on the River Seine and the finish being at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower, an estimated 65,000 spectators can watch a parade starting at the Champs-Elysees and finishing at the Place de la Concorde.
There should be a stark difference between this year’s ceremony and that of the 2020 Paralympics. The last competition, which took place in Tokyo, Japan, was delayed until 2021 due to covid. The ceremony was vibrant, with light shows, fireworks and dance performances, but many spectator seats were left empty and New Zealand even opted out to reduce the risk of catching covid.
Final Thoughts
With the 2024 Paris Olympics now over, we hope this guide has helped you know where you can watch the 2024 Paralympics for free. There are plenty of free options available and a VPN will help you access the one you want if you’re not in the country.
ExpressVPN is the best choice and the 30-day money-back guarantee will cover all 11 days, meaning you can get a refund when you’re done.
Which Paralympic event are you looking forward to the most? Where will you stream the Paralympics? Will you need to use a VPN? If so, which VPN service will you pick? Let us know in the comments section and, as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ: Stream the Paralympics for Free
NBC was the official Olympic channel in the U.S., and it’s the same for the Paralympics. Elsewhere, you can watch the Paralympics on Channel 4 in the U.K., TVNZ 1 in New Zealand, 9 Network in Australia, France 2 and France 3 in France and CBC Sports in Canada, to name but a few. If you’re not in these countries, you can access the services with the help of a VPN.
NBC, CNBC and USA Network will provide daily live coverage and primetime broadcasts of the Paralympics in the U.S. You can also stream on the NBC Sports app, but comprehensive live streaming coverage of all the events is available on Peacock in the U.S. In other countries, TVNZ (NZ), Channel 4 (U.K.), 9 Network (AU) and France TV, among many more, will provide coverage.
The first Winter Paralympics took place in Sweden in 1976. The last Winter Paralympics competition was hosted by Beijing, China, in 2022, and we can look forward to the next one in Milan in 2026.