Two weeks after the Olympics, it's the Paralympics' turn to start in Tokyo.
From August 24 to September 5, 4,400 athletes will take part in the competition in 22 sports including two new this year, taekwondo and badminton.
France will be represented by 138 athletes.
Five years ago in Rio, the French team took 12th place in the ranking of nations with 28 medals including 9 in gold, 5 in silver and 14 in bronze.
With the Paris Games approaching in 2024, a goal of 35 medals has been set in Japan for Paralympic athletes by the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, Brigitte Henriques.
France 24 invites you to discover the French athletes to follow throughout this fortnight.
Marie-Amélie Le Fur
: to end your career on a high note
Marie-Amélie Le Fur celebrates her victory in the 400m at the Paralympic Games in Rio, September 12, 2016. AFP - CHRISTOPHE SIMON
Double gold medalist in Rio five years ago in the long jump and 400m, the 32-year-old para-athlete dreams of a fireworks outing in Tokyo.
Parallel president of the French Paralympic and Sporting Committee (CPSF), Marie-Amélie Le Fur has one of the richest records in French para-sport (11 medals at the Games), but she has already announced that she will not extend until Paris in 2024.
It is the memory of having attended a para-athletics race during the Paris Worlds in 2003, which prompted her to continue in this direction after the scooter accident which deprived her of a part of his left leg a year later.
In Tokyo, finished the track, the EDF agent and quadruple world champion will focus only on the long jump.
Stéphane Houdet: a champion never satisfied
Tennis player Stéphane Houdet during the US Open on September 8, 2019 in New York.
Getty Images via AFP - ELSA
Flag bearer with Sandrine Martinet of the French delegation, Stéphane Houdet left the last three editions of the Games with each time a medal in wheelchair tennis.
Holder of five medals in total, including two in gold in doubles, he puts his Rio Paralympic title on the line with Nicolas Peifer.
But he would also see himself shine in singles at 50.
In London in 2012, it was the Japanese star Shingo Kunieda, his doubles partner on the circuit at the time, who had deprived him of the gold.
Sandrine Martinet: an incredible challenge
Sandrine Martinet during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace to celebrate the organization of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, September 15, 2017. AFP - YOAN VALAT
A figure in French para judo, the flag bearer of the French delegation has had a career full of trials.
Great favorite for the Paralympic title in 2012, Sandrine Martinet broke her ankle in the semifinals.
The champion returns to Rio stronger than ever and acquires the long-awaited Paralympic gold (under 52 kg).
In Tokyo, where she could end her career, this visually impaired athlete set herself the incredible challenge of competing in a lower category (- 48 kg).
Nantenin Keïta: sporty and committed
Paralympic champion over 400m, Nantenin Keïta is looking for a new medal in Tokyo.
© Ste
Paralympic champion over 400m in Rio, Nantenin Keïta is looking for a new medal in Tokyo.
Before gold in Brazil, she had already obtained silver and bronze in Beijing in 2008 (200 and 400 m), then bronze in London in 2012 (100 m).
Born in Bamako, she moved to France at the age of 2.
As a teenager, she began by playing hand and then basketball, before discovering athletics through a competition for the visually impaired.
Her progress will guide her, among other things, to three world champion titles (200 and 400 m in 2006, 400 m in 2015).
On the track, she runs without a guide and does not trust her sight but in contrasting colors.
Through the association that bears their first names, Salif and Nantenin Keïta, it is increasing operations around education and health, such as the collection of tubes of sunscreen to protect children in Mali.
Above all, she wants to raise awareness in the face of beliefs anchored around albinism which still lead to discrimination and crimes in Africa.
Arnaud Assoumani: a fifth participation in the Games
Arnaud Assoumani during the Paralympic Games in London, September 3, 2012. AFP - GLYN KIRK
Long jump specialist and five-time Paralympic medalist Arnaud Assoumani is competing in his fifth Games in a row in Tokyo.
Born without a left forearm, he competed in his first Games in Athens in 2004, where he won bronze at length, before being crowned gold in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London in 2012. Four years later, he won bronze in Rio.
He also became known thanks to his prosthesis, the "Golden Vespa", a dummy arm decorated in the colors of a hornet.
Mandy François-Elie: forgetting Rio
Mandy François-Elie celebrates her victory in the 100m during the Worlds organized in Lyon, July 24, 2013. AFP - PHILIPPE DESMAZES
Victim of a stroke in 2008, at the age of 18, Mandy François-Elie woke up hemiplegic and partially paralyzed on the right side of the body. Before this accident, she was a hope of athletics. The young woman continues to pursue her dreams and uses sports as therapy. She won the gold medal in the 100m at the London 2012 Paralympic Summer Games. At the world para-athletics championships in Lyon in 2013, she was crowned champion over 100 m and 200 m.
In Rio, the Martinican sprinter loses her title by collecting only the silver medal.
More motivated than ever, she intends to recover her crown in Tokyo.
She recently won two new gold medals in the 100 and 200 m at the European Disabled Athletics Championships held in Poland last June.
Alexis Hanquinquant: winning the missing title
At 35, triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant has won almost everything.
Four times champion of France, triple European champion and triple world champion, all he lacks is the Paralympic title.
In 2010, this mason-tiler was the victim of a serious work accident.
His leg is saved but handicaps him on a daily basis.
He decides to have himself amputated and turns to triathlon.
Since then, he has continued to perform.
Élise Marc: from paratriathlon to para-cycling
Among the women, it is the triathlete Élise Marc who shines.
Bilateral amputee in the shins following an accident in 2004, she began practicing triathlon in 2012.
Depending on the competitions, in 2014 she joined the French paratriathlon team and finished 3rd in her category at the world championships the same year, in Edmonton, Canada.
She has since won two world titles.
After finishing 5th in Rio, she is now aiming for the podium in Japan, but in another category, that of para-cycling, because hers is not present in Tokyo.
Dorian Foulon: the young cyclist in sight
In cycling, the young Breton Dorian Foulon is the sensation to follow.
At the last track world championships in 2020, he won two gold medals in pursuit and omnium, as well as bronze in the kilometer.
At 23, he also became vice-world time trial champion this year.
Born with clubfoot, he suffers from muscle atrophy in his left leg.
Despite this malformation, he dreams of one day becoming the first person with a disability to participate in the Tour de France.
Bopha Kong: for a Paralympic first
Quadruple world champion, triple European champion, this Frenchman of Vietnamese origin has an impressive track record.
As para-taekwondo makes its debut at the Paralympic Games, it intends to win the first gold medal in this discipline.
After losing his hands at 18, in an accidental explosion of a homemade bomb, Bopha Kong turned to the sport which helped him to accept his handicap.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR