If the Paris Olympics was act one of an incredible summer of sport, the imminent arrival of act two is much anticipated.

The Paralympics begin with the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday and, if the success of the Paris Olympics is anything to go by, it’s likely to be yet another triumph.

549 gold medals across 22 sports will be on offer over the 12 days of the Paris Games, with GB’s team, which stretches to over 200 athletes, aiming to depart the French capital with a significant haul of silverware.

With GB having won 124 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, leaving the British team an impressive second on the medal table behind only China, a similar level of success is anticipated in Paris, with more than a few Scots in the hunt for podium places.

From an international perspective, some of the greats of Paralympic sport will be in action in Paris, from US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden who's looking to add to her current tally of 20 Paralympic medals to her compatriot, swimmer Jessica Long, who already has 29 Paralympic medals to her name.

In GB colours, Jonny Peacock, Hannah Cockroft, Sarah Storey, Alice Tai and Kadeena Cox are all gold medal hopefuls.

This Paralympics is not set to be all plain sailing, however, with more than a few waves likely to be made by the inclusion of the first trans-woman in the Paralympic Games, in the shape of 50-year-old Italian sprinter, Valentina Petrillo, who will compete in the T12 classification, for athletes with visual impairments.

From a Scottish perspective, there is much to look forward to, with almost of the Scottish contingent in Paris with aspirations to be on the podium.

On the athletics track, Sammi Kinghorn is one of GB’s most experienced campaigners, and one of Scotland’s safest bets for silverware.

The 28-year-old wheelchair racer has, in recent years, established herself as one of the sport’s very best sprinters and middle-distance racers and having won silver and bronze at Tokyo 2020 to add to her world and European titles, the only significant gap in her CV is a Paralympic gold. 

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Kinghorn has been in the form of her life in 2024, setting personal bests in the T53 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m and with all four distances on her schedule over the next two weeks, as well as the universal 4x100m relay, Kinghorn could even depart Paris with a handful of medals.

She will be joined in the track and field team by her fellow Scots, Mel Woods and Ben Sandilands, with the latter looking to win his maiden Paralympic title to add to the T20 1500m world title he won last year.

Wheelchair tennis player Gordon Reid is no stranger to Paralympic success; he won singles gold at Rio 2016 before following that up with doubles silver and singles bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Alongside Englishman Alfie Hewett, the pair have become the most dominant doubles partnership in modern-day tennis, racking up 25 grand slam doubles titles in total, including all three this year.

The pair are hot favourites to win their first Paralympic gold together in Paris, and Reid is rarely out of the fight for singles medals either.

In the velodrome, one of Scotland’s all-time great Paralympians is aiming to add further to his medal tally.

Paris will be Neil Fachie’s fifth Paralympics and with two gold and two silvers to his name already, the visually impaired rider knows what’s required to get onto the podium over the next couple of weeks.

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He’s joined in the para-cycling team by Fin Graham, as well as Jenny Holl, who’s riding as a pilot for Englishwoman, Sophie Unwin.

Para-archer Nathan MacQueen has had quite the journey to this point; a talented rugby player in his youth, he played for Glasgow Warriors’ under-18 side before a serious motorbike accident when he was 18 left him paralysed.

He turned to archery and having made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016, the 33-year-old, who won European gold and ascended to world number one last year, is hoping to win his first Paralympic medal in Paris.

In the pool, there’s a quartet of Scottish swimmers in the GB squad, spearheaded by Edinburgh man, Stephen Clegg.

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Clegg has been one of the world’s top para-swimmers for a number of years and is the third member of his family to become a Paralympian after his elder brother and sister, James and Libby. 

Paris will be Clegg’s second Paralympic Games and after wining silver and two bronzes at Tokyo 2020, the visually impaired S12 swimmer is aiming to add gold to complete his collection. 

He’ll be joned in the pool by his fellow Scots, Toni Shaw, Louis Lawlor and Faye Rogers.

The Scottish contingent in Paris is completed by boccia players Patrick Wilson, Kayleigh Haggo and Stephen McGuire, para-triathletes Alison Peasgood and Brooke Gillies, para-canoeist Hope Gordon, table tennis player Martin Perry and wheelchair basketball player, Robyn Love.