Paralympic Games: we must not forget that this is high level sport!

Virginie Phulpin 7:28 am, August 24, 2021

The Paralympic Games begin today in Tokyo.

The opening ceremony is at 1 p.m.

These games are finally starting to be more visible than before.

For Virginie Phulpin, this is obviously to be congratulated, even if this is only a start, and above all, we must look at them for what they are: top-level sport.  

There has been a real evolution in recent years.

In Beijing in 2008, the Paralympic Games were still very confidential.

Once the Olympics were over, bye everyone, we moved on.

And disabled athletes found themselves quite alone.

Today, that is no longer the case, and fortunately.

It has evolved little by little, in London, then in Rio, and now in Tokyo, obviously waiting for Paris 2024. There are many more hours of television broadcasting, interviews, reports all over the press. , athletes are also very present on social networks. Of course, this is not a panacea and we understand the frustration and impatience of para-athletes who find that the media coverage is not yet up to the investment of athletes. They are right, and in the media, we must do more, that's for sure.

Show the difference and give all their place to these champions. But there was an awareness, undeniably. Awareness and concrete actions too. That the French Olympic and Paralympic team are now one and the same, it may be a detail for you, but it means a lot. Virginie Phulpin has never seen so much commitment, encouragement, from our Olympic athletes for their Paralympic colleagues in recent days.

And then the Paralympic committee launched last week a very intelligent campaign which largely participates in the popularization of these games.

It's a campaign called We the Fifteen.

We, the 15%.

Because yes, 15% of the world's population lives with a disability.

That's over a billion people who no longer want, who can no longer be invisible.

And sometimes it's good to remember the numbers. 

This campaign also says that Paralympic Games athletes are neither invisible nor superheroes. 

Here is.

Quite simply, they are top athletes.

No more no less.

So we are not here to watch the games with our hands on our hearts and tear our eyes while thinking of the hardships experienced by the para-athletes.

No.

It is their strength, not their weakness.

We are going to vibrate, tremble, and also get excited about their performances and their poor performances. We're going to watch sports. It is Marie-Amélie Le Fur, multiple medalist in sprint and long jump, who says so in Team Magazine in particular. When she took part in her first games in Beijing 13 years ago, she hadn't yet realized that to win you had to be a top athlete.

But today the level of the Paralympic Games has improved considerably.

The participants are professional, overtrained athletes, and they do not seek to participate in the games.

They seek to surpass themselves, to break records and to win.

Marie-Amélie Le Fur will play her last Paralympic games.

It lines up in length.

She holds the world record with a jump to 6.14 meters. And she tells us that this competition is going to be exciting, and that her record will fall.

Good thing that's what Virginie Phulpin wants to see in Tokyo.

Performance, emotion, and a tad of patriotism also for our team in France.

We want Marseillaises like the ones that moved us this summer!