• The parabadminton events begin this Wednesday in Tokyo with six French entered.

  • Double European champion in mixed doubles, Rennaise Faustine Noël will aim for a medal.

Their able-bodied colleagues have already been celebrating since 1992. Nineteen years later, parabadists will finally discover the Olympic spirit with the entry of badminton on the program of the Paralympic Games which will take place until September 5 in Tokyo. A place of choice for a first because "Japan is a country that loves badminton", rejoices Faustine Noël. Aged 27, the Rennes Students Club Badminton graduate will be part of the French delegation and will be one of the great medal chances. "This is my goal of course even if being present is already great," she says.

Having lived in a family crazy about the shuttlecock, Faustine Noël has been playing badminton since the age of 10.

But a slight neuromotor handicap, his brain controlling his right leg poorly, prevented him from making a career with able-bodied people.

She will finally discover the high level in parabadminton late in the day.

"It has taken a long time to develop in France and I also thought at the beginning that it was reserved for people in wheelchairs", indicates the Breton athlete.

She relies more on the double than on the single

Once in the circuit, Faustine Noël did not drag on the road by winning two gold medals in women's singles and doubles for her first participation in the French championships in 2015. A few weeks later, she did it again by winning a title of vice-world champion for her first international competition.

Since then, the Rennes badist has shone again with two European champion titles in mixed doubles in 2016 and 2018 with her partner Lucas Mazur.

It is in this category that the young woman, world number 2, is the most anticipated, and to a lesser extent in women's doubles (world number 5).

"I am No. 6 in singles but I do not think I can claim a new medal," she says.

Our file on the Paralympic Games

While waiting for the start of the events, scheduled for Wednesday, Faustine Noël took advantage of the one-year postponement of the Games to perfect her preparation.

“I didn't necessarily feel ready in 2020 so it's not necessarily such a bad thing,” said the Rennes player, who is eager to enter the competition.

And this despite the absence of the public due to the health context.

"We are not used to having a lot of people at parabadminton events anyway, so that should not destabilize us too much," she smiles.

Sport

“From the shade to the light”, the shocking film with Michaël Jérémiasz which retraces 150 years of history of sport and disability

Sport

The rider Alexandre Léauté offers the first gold medal to France at the Paralympic Games

  • Badminton

  • Sport

  • Tokyo

  • Paralympic Games

  • Reindeer

  • Handicap