Tokyo (AFP)

After the 54 French medals at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the challenge for Paris-24 is to "maintain over time" the visibility which "completely ceases to exist between the Games", regrets the president of the Paralympic and Sports Committee French Marie-Amélie Le Fur in an interview with AFP.

Q: Has a milestone been crossed from the perspective of Paralympic athletes this summer?

A: "Being in Tokyo, it is difficult to feel the enthusiasm in France. What I perceive and the feedback I have is that the media coverage started earlier than usual, which has allowed the general public to prepare a little for it. We even heard a lot more about it at the time of the Olympic Games, which caught the audience. We feel that the performances are more followed, it is very positive. thinks that we have a milestone to take in the appropriation of what the Paralympic Games are, in the way of talking about them. "

Q: Which one?

A: "We have to get out of the story simply relating to the life course of our athletes but to take an interest in their performance journey, to continue to follow them over time, to talk about their training, to talk about what it is like. to be a top-level athlete on a daily basis. There must also be better monitoring of all the intermediate competitions during these three years which separate us from the Games. The problem with the Paralympic movement is that it completely stops d 'exist between the Games. It is very difficult to see, whether at the European or World Championships. There should be these relays between the Games. We must maintain over time and until Paris-2024 this link between the French and our athletes through regular reports, that is absolutely essential."

The president of the French National Paralympic Committee Marie-Amélie Le Fur, during a training session at the Blois stadium, May 21, 2021 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP / Archives

Q: Can Paris-2024 be a game-changer for French Paralympic athletes like London-2012 did for the British?

A: "It is not only English athletes who have been marked by London. The whole Paralympic movement has been marked by the enthusiasm of the spectators, by the recognition of Paralympic athletes as top athletes, it is is really what we felt, a fervor. It was absolutely extraordinary and I sincerely hope that we will have a similar experience in France. "

Q: Do you believe it?

A: "Let's say that the ambitions must now materialize. Tokyo-2020 is a first step for us in terms of appropriation by the general public, by the media, but we feel that this system can still be improved, we still needs to go further. It's a path that is a bit long. We are on the right track, now we need a boost because three years is very short and our ambitions are very large. "

Marie-Amélie Le Fur competing at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, August 28, 2021 Thomas LOVELOCK OIS / IOC / AFP / Archives

Q: Are the financial means there?

A "It's been two or three years since a real rise in the consideration of Paralympic sport took place. There was a realization that Paralympic sport was undersized, under-subsidized. Little by little, the Investments are being rethought. More envelopes are allocated to the federations. But there are also human resources. Because finding disabled practitioners, license holders, it takes a lot of time, it is really very complex, and for that, it is really necessary that the federations have human resources too. "

© 2021 AFP