“Sport is a tool of emancipation” for people with disabilities, say Paralympic athletes

In 500 days, from August 28 to September 8, Paris will host the Paralympic Summer Games, just after the Olympic Games for the able-bodied. This will be a first in France and the organizing committee is currently communicating on the legacy of these Games for French society, after the competition. Because the Paralympic Games have many objectives.

The first is to show and recognize that a person with a disability can perform at a high level just as much as the able-bodied. “It’s the story of humanity after all”, says triple Paralympic wheelchair tennis champion Stéphane Houdet. ” We talked about differences in skin color at the start, religious or sexual preferences. Today, we talk about morphological, physiological and intellectual differences. Realizing that we disabled people can live in this world by moving, by consuming, by having the same life as the able-bodied, I think that can be an important point of change.”

Getting more people with disabilities into sport

The other objective of these Games is to encourage people with disabilities to dare to play sports. “When you are disabled, from birth or after an accident in life, society hinders you, limits you, tells you: ‘This is not for you'”believes Michael Jéremiasz, also Paralympic wheelchair tennis champion, “Sport is a tool for emancipation. It is also an environment in which we live in a mixed life. I encourage the practice of sport for all, together, from an early age at school. exemptions for children with disabilities at school, quite the contrary!”

“Thanks to sport, we learn to live together. People with disabilities can say: ‘I want to play sports, I want to travel, to meet people, to be fulfilled.’ Sport is for that.”

Michael Jéremiasz, Paralympic wheelchair tennis champion

franceinfo

That the Paralympic Games can make everyone want to do sport and that everyone benefits from it in their own way, there is no doubt for the multi-medal Paralympic Ludivine Munos. She is now responsible for Paralympic integration on the organizing committee for the 2024 Olympics. “The more muscular you are, the more independent you are and the better life is for a person with a disability”she says. “Above all, it contributes to a change of perspective. When we are present with our disability in the pools, on the slopes all over France, we show on a daily basis all that we are capable of doing. I think it is a source inspiration for anyone who can’t quite get out there, get into sports gear and practice.”

One of the first indicators of the success of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be the speed at which the three million tickets will be sold soon to be available to see the 22 sports, from boccia to para-athletics via goalball or rugby- armchair.