Paralympic Games: Paris 2024 visits Tokyo to prepare for the relay

Wheelchair rugby is one of the 22 sports present at the Paralympic Games.

Behrouz MEHRI AFP / File

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

5 mins

A delegation led by the president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Games, Tony Estanguet, made the trip to Tokyo to see the organization of the Paralympic Games in Japan.

In three years, it will be France's turn to promote disabled athletes.

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From our special correspondent in Japan,

In what area other than sport, is the handicap emphasized so much?

With the Paralympic Games, the sport is one step ahead of the rest of society.

"

The ambition of Paris 2024 is

to offer the best showcase

for the Paralympic Games

", assures RFI Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Get inspired, understand, and do even better

The three-time Olympic canoe champion spent several days in Tokyo taking the temperature during the Paralympic Games. Moreover, the Paris 2024 delegation counts, as for the Olympic Games, about fifty people, who came mainly to inspect everything relating to accessibility and transport. The idea is to be inspired, to understand, and to do even better. France has three years left to prepare for the event and take the wheelchair sport to the next level, as in London in 2012.

Tony Estanguet, who was particularly marked by

wheelchair rugby

in terms of spectacle, wants " 

first and foremost

 " to promote the disciplines of the Paralympic Games.

For example, in France, the practice of wheelchair rugby, open since its birth to co-education, remains for the most part very masculine.

French clubs have less than ten women in their workforce.

“ 

When there are Olympic days organized in France, there are always introductions to Paralympic sports

 ,” he explains.

Life courses that inspire

In Paris, from September 2 to 5, it will be possible to learn about the various Paralympic sports at Place du Trocadéro. "

 We fought to have the same common logo for the first time, but also to have the same iconic sites as the Olympic events

 ," says Tony Estanguet. For the 2024 Paralympic Games, archery will be at Invalides, judo, wheelchair rugby and cecifoot at Champ-de-Mars, and therefore at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Horse riding will take place at the Palace of Versailles, fencing and taekwondo at the Grand Palais.

“ 

I find it an incredible event with

athletes who move me

.

There is a human richness, life paths that inspire.

The Paralympic Games go beyond athletic performance, it has a real message of inclusion,

 ”says Tony Estanguet.

In Tokyo, athletes prove every day that sport can be played by everyone. 

Open parasport sections everywhere

“ 

When we see these messages of hope and these successes, we should not complain

, admits Estanguet.

It is good for morale and it strengthens our strategy to make the Paralympic Games as important an event as the Olympic Games. We want to show the younger generations that sport breaks down barriers and changes the way people look at disability. 

"

And to add: "

We must change mentalities. Parasport sections must be opened everywhere, in all clubs. We started in Paris. These great champions have managed to get up, to prepare, to display levels of performance that we, able-bodied, we would be unable to have. What changed the lives of these athletes I met in Tokyo was not their accident, but the place of sport in their existence. They all agree to tell me.

In Japan, people with disabilities find it difficult to find structures for practicing sport.

In France, according to figures from INSEE (National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies), it is estimated that 13.4% of French people have a motor impairment, or even that 11.4% of the population has sensory impairment (partial or total loss of a sense).

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