I hope you are as excited as I am, Chris.

Tim Hodge and Brenden Hall will be the first Aussies to swim for medals when they compete in the final of the men’s S9 400m freestyle.

Hello Sarah.

Thanks for staying up with me on the ABC Sport live blog.

Para-athletics, including flag-bearer Madison de Rozario, will be on tomorrow’s blog.

Australia is not playing, but it does matter to us.

The men’s wheelchair basketball team are in Pool B with the USA, Spain and the Netherlands.

Australia and the Netherlands will face off at 5:30am AEST.

For now, the USA and Spain are taking to court.

In Pool A there is Great Britain, Germany, Canada and France.

All eight nations will progress to the quarterfinals.

The pool stage is a way of seeding the teams.

Hello Doug.

Thanks for joining the ABC Sport live blog of the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

We have a moment here with no Australians in action.

As we prepare for the para-swimming medal races (and all other sports) I am currently enjoying the men’s sitting volleyball between Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earlier, Canada’s women’s goalball team defeated France 10-0.

It looked like a statement of intent from Canada who won gold in the women’s event at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.

Good evening Australia.

Luke and Amanda have stepped away from the ABC Sport desk and I have taken my seat.

My name is Michael Doyle and I will be burning the midnight oil with you until the sun rises.

There is a lot to look forward to over the coming hours.

The first medal races in para-swimming will be contested.

Australians will be competing in para-archery, para-table tennis and boccia.

The Rollers, Australia’s men’s wheelchair basketball team will be the last in action on Day 1.

Let me know where you are watching from and tell me which athlete/event you are most excited to see in the comments section.

Great news for the Australian contingent in Paris with Dan Michel winning his opening match in the men’s individual BC3 competition.

Michel (with ramp operator Ashlee Maddern) defeated South Africa’s Karabo Morapedi (ramp operator Matobako Ramochela) 10-2.

The Australian will face Great Britain’s Patrick Wilson (ramp operator Meredith Greenwood) in his next Pool A match in the preliminary round on Saturday morning (AEST).

The women’s individual compound open ranking round is still underway, India’s Sheetal Devi currently leads the standings while Australia’s Ameera Lee and Melissa-Anne Tanner are 20th and 23rd out of the 28 competitors.

In the men’s individual recurve open ranking round, Türkiye’s Sadik Savas leads the way, Taymon Kenton-Smith is 25th out of 30 athletes.

Australia’s Dan Michel was leading his South African opponent Karabo Morapedi in their opening match in the men’s BC3 preliminary round.

Michel, the 2022 world champion, led 5-2 in the first of his three Pool A matches.

If you enjoy a gold rush G, then the Paralympics are for you.

At the Olympics there were 329 medal events, at the Paralympics there are 549!

Australia was eighth on the medal tally in Tokyo with 21 gold, 29 silver and 30 bronze.

Australia’s Chad Perris and his pilot Luke Zaccaria did not advance to the medal races in the men’s B 4,000m individual pursuit.

Perris and Zaccaria (5:42.837) were 14th on the standings at the conclusion of the qualifying round, which played host to two world records in a matter of minutes.

First, Great Britain’s Stephen Bate and pilot Christopher Latham set a new global mark when they stopped the clock in 3:56.435 to book a berth in the gold medal race.

The world record had been held by Tristan Bangma of the Netherlands.

Bangma and pilot Patrick Bos happened to be contesting the final heat of the qualifying round and they dipped under the freshly minted record with a time of 3:55.396.

What a gold medal race we have on our hands tomorrow morning at 1:13 (AEST)!

While we’ve been following Australia’s progress closely on day one, of course there has been plenty of other action.

Goalball competition has started, with China and Ukraine notching up wins in the men’s preliminary round, and Türkiye and Brazil sharing a draw in the women’s. 

Brazil has defeated Rwanda in the women’s preliminary sitting volleyball round.

And in the wheelchair basketball Great Britain won both its opening games in the men’s and women’s events.

Too much sport is never enough when it comes to the Paralympics…

Australians Dan Michel and Jamieson Leeson explain why the difference between a medal and missing one can come down to millimetres.

One of Australia’s medal chances in Paris, Dan Michel, is competing in the preliminary round of the men’s BC3 individual event.

Michel (with ramp operator Ashlee Maddern) faces South Africa’s Karabo Morapedi (with ramp operator Matobako Ramochela)in his opening Pool A match.

The Australian won the 2022 world championship in the individual event.

We’ll keep you updated on how Michel fares.

The men’s individual recurve open ranking round is currently underway featuring Taymon Kenton-Smith.

The women’s individual compound open ranking round includes Melissa-Anne Tanner and Ameera Lee.

They’re part of the largest Australian Para archery team in 40 years, with six competitors in total.

Tanner and Lee are both making their Paralympic debuts – aged 51 and 50 respectively.

ABC Sport’s Elizabeth Wright spoke to Lee earlier this year and found out about her incredible journey in the sport.

Australia’s Kane Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria have clocked 5:42.837 in the opening heat of themen’s B 4,000m individual pursuit.

Perris and Zaccaria finished ahead of Ghana’s Frederick Assor and Rudolf Mensah (pilot), who produced a time of 6:30.054.

It’s a waiting game now for the Aussies, as there are seven more heats before the make-up of the medal races is decided.

As we mentioned earlier, the riders with the two fastest times in qualifying will race for gold in the final at 1:13am (AEST).

The next two fastest in the qualifying round will face off for bronze at 12:59am (AEST).

It’s a busy Paralympics for the Perris family, with Kane’s older brother Chad competing in the para-athletics.

Chad Perris is competing in his third Paralympics. He won a bronze in the T13 100m at the 2016 Rio Games.

The swimming finals will get underway at 1:30am AEST, with a host of Australians featuring, including flagbearer Brenden Hall.

Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel will compete in their respective BC3 individual preliminaries.

And for the early risers, the Rollers will begin their wheelchair basketball campaign against the Netherlands at 5:30am AEST.

The Rollers haven’t won a medal since London 2012, but have undergone some big changes including a new coach – Rollers legend Brad Ness, and they’ve been on a hot streak this year.

Australia’s Kane Perris is not far away from taking to the track in the qualifying round of the men’s B 4,000m individual pursuit.

Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria are aiming to make the medal races, which will be contested tomorrow morning (AEST).

The riders with the two fastest times in qualifying will race for gold in the final, which will be held at 1:13am (AEST).

The next two fastest in the qualifying round will face off for bronze at 12:59am (AEST).

Hi beebling – we will have a daily blog throughout the Paralympics, which will include an overview of all the Australian athletes competing on that day.

The Steelers have opened their Paralympic campaign with a tense 58-55 loss to defending champions Great Britain.

The game was still up for grabs in the final period, but the British showed cool nerves to hold on for the win.

Ryley Batt was the top try-scorer for the world champion Steelers with 36 for the game.

Aaron Phipps was superb for Great Britain, scoring 25 tries.

The Steelers will now turn their attention to their next Group B game against France on Saturday morning (AEST).

Great Britain plays Denmark on Friday night (AEST).