The opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games takes place on Tuesday, August 24, but the stands of the National Stadium will remain empty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 4,400 athletes competing in this competition will therefore be deprived of the public, but their objective is elsewhere: to win one of the 539 titles (against 339 during the Olympic Games) awarded until September 5.
During these two weeks, some athletes will be particularly scrutinized.
France 24 invites you to discover the international stars of these Games.
Markus Rehm: the German "Blade Jumper"
Markus Rehm celebrates his victory and his Paralympic record on September 16, 2016 in Rio.
Christophe Simon, AFP
Known as the "Blade Jumper" in reference to his prosthetic blade, the German long jumper holds the world record in his category (T64) with a jump to 8.62 meters at the European Championships in June .
The 33-year-old three-time Paralympic champion, amputated of his right shin after a boating accident, intends to improve it on the "fast track" of the Tokyo National Stadium: "It's my goal, I'll be honest," he said. - he entrusted a few days before the start of the Games.
In this case, he would achieve a better jump than the Greek Olympic champion Miltiadis Tedoglou (8.41 meters).
It would undoubtedly be a small revenge for Markus Rehm who had led an unsuccessful legal battle to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to compete in the Olympic Games.
World Athletics - the international athletics federation - had finally felt that his prosthesis gave him an advantage.
Beatrice Vio: the Italian icon
Beatrice Vio poses with her gold medal at the Rome Worlds in November 2017. Tiziana Fabi, AFP
With over a million followers on Instagram, the wheelchair fencer is a star in her native Italy, where she is a regular guest at Milan Fashion Week. The 24-year-old, nicknamed "Bebe", started fencing at the age of five, but at age 11 she suffered from meningitis. The disease necroses her four limbs and Beatrice Vio owes her survival only to the amputation of her legs and forearms. It also causes damage to his face, still marked by scars. Several months of hospitalization followed, during which she learned to live again through motor rehabilitation and physiotherapy sessions.
The young girl then turned to wheelchair fencing, becoming the first competitive fencer without arms or legs.
Beatrice Vio uses foil identical to that of the able-bodied.
And if her prosthetic legs allow her to walk almost normally, it is in a wheelchair that she practices her discipline.
Five years ago, she won two medals - one gold and one bronze - at the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Matt Stutzman: the archer without arms
Matt Stutzman during the Paralympic Games in Rio, September 14, 2016. Christophe Simon, AFP
American Matt Stutzman was born without arms. Raised in a family of hunters, this athlete from Kansas dreamed of emulating his father and brother from an early age. Despite his disability, he learned to shoot with the help of his feet and performs many activities in everyday life. He shoots from a seated position, uses his left foot to place the arrow, raises the bow with his right foot, and shoots the arrow using a small device attached to his upper body. He activates the latter with the jaw, making the arrow go.
"I quickly realized that I shouldn't care what other people thought of me. People will always notice me. People still stare at me today," he explains.
He has already participated in the Paralympic Games twice, in 2012 in London, where he won a silver medal, and in 2016 in Rio.
He also holds the world record for the longest precision shooting in archery, at 210 meters.
Amalia Perez: the queen of weightlifting
Amalia Perez during a press conference before the opening of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, August 22, 2021. Charly Triballeau, AFP
At 44, Mexican Amalia Perez has an already full track record.
In Rio, this weightlifting specialist who suffers from paraplegia will participate in her sixth Paralympic Games.
She won her first gold medal in Beijing in 2008. She was also crowned in London and Rio, and collects world records.
"Sport brings so many things. With sport, we live, we dream and we improve our health. In life, we can always exceed our own limits", she said in a press conference before the Games of Tokyo, where she will try to win a fourth consecutive title.
Shingo Kunieda: winning at home
Shingo Kunieda celebrates his victory at the US Open on September 13, 2020. Matthew Stockman, Getty Images via AFP
World number one, he
is one of the most successful wheelchair tennis players and a name that resonates in his native Japan.
Suffering from a spinal cord tumor at the age of nine, he won three gold and two bronze medals at the Paralympic Games, as well as 45 Grand Slam tournaments (singles and doubles).
Reduced by an elbow injury and eliminated in the quarter-finals in Rio, Shingo Kunieda is more determined than ever to regain the Paralympic title on home soil at 37: “Winning a gold medal in Tokyo is my biggest goal. "
Tatyana McFadden: Summer Games and Winter Games
Tatyana McFadden won gold in the 5,000m in Rio on September 15, 2016. Bob Martin / OIS / IOC / AFP
At 32, Tatyana McFadden is one of the stars of the disabled sports world. Born in Russia, suffering from spina bifida, a birth defect that paralyzes the legs, she was abandoned at birth by her mother. After living six years in an orphanage, the future champion was finally adopted by Deborah McFadden, a representative of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and raised in Baltimore. This American, athletics specialist, already has 17 Paralympic medals to her list (seven in gold, seven in silver, three in bronze) collected in Athens, Beijing, London, Sochi and Rio. She is also known as the first person to win all four major marathons (Boston, London, Chicago and New York) in a single year. After shining in wheelchair races,she had launched a new challenge by participating in the Winter Games in 2014 in biathlon.
Jonnie Peacock: the British darling
Jonnie Peacock celebrates his 100m victory at the Rio Paralympic Games, September 9, 2016. Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP
It was at the age of five that Jonnie Peacock had his right leg amputated below the knee following meningococcal disease.
As a teenager, he learned about disabled sports and turned to athletics.
His talent exploded during the Paralympic Games in London where he won the 100m final with a new Paralympic record.
Four years later, in Rio, he defended his title and won gold again.
Very popular in the United Kingdom, he notably participated in the British equivalent of "Dancing with the stars".
Husnah Kukundawke: the youngest athlete
Husnah Kukundawke at a press conference before the start of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, August 22, 2021. Charly Triballeau, AFP
The 14-year-old Ugandan Husnah Kukundakwe is still a schoolgirl and participates in her first Paralympic Games. The young swimmer qualified in the women's 50m and 100m freestyle. Born without a right forearm, Husnah Kukundakwe wants to motivate young Ugandans to get into para-swimming: "Yes, I feel a certain pressure as the only para-swimmer in my country, but the simple fact of having the chance to be here is a dream come true. I'm so happy right now! "she said at a press conference. "I can also show other young people who want to play Paralympic sports that they have to move on and believe in themselves. A lot of people kept telling me that it was impossible, but it can be done, you can all do it. get there !"
Shoko Ota: from skiing to taekwondo
Shoko Ota during the Paralympic Games in Sochi, March 12, 2014. Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP
This 32-year-old Japanese woman was born without fingers on her left hand.
She started skiing as a child and competed in the Paralympic Games in Turin, Vancouver and Sochi where she won two medals, one silver and one bronze.
After this brilliant career in winter sports, Shoko Ota qualified for Tokyo in para-taekwondo, one of the two new disciplines to have entered the Paralympic program.
She joined a group of disabled athletes who all took part in the Winter and Summer Games.
"I know a lot of sportswomen who have come this way before me and they are very cool. It's really amazing to be able to be part of their squad," she said before the start of the competition.
Ntando Mahlangu: the rising star of South Africa
South African Ntando Mahlangu during the Worlds in Dubai, November 10, 2019. Karim Sahib, AFP
For his first Paralympic Games in Rio at just 14, Ntando Mahlangu finished second in the 200m behind defending champion Richard Whitehead, setting a new African record.
This sprinter suffers from fibular hemimelia, a birth defect characterized by a short or missing fibula, which hinders the development of the legs.
This defect caused him to spend the first ten years of his life in a wheelchair.
Doctors then suggested that she amputate it and use prostheses.
Which he finally accepted.
He has since made a name for himself and continues to perform.
At the last Worlds held in 2019 in Dubai, he won gold in the 200m and finished fourth in the long jump.
With AFP
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