2023-08-28 06:58:11
A shared banner and logo, a unified French team, a desire to speak with one voice. The Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) has joined words with deeds: these Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games must be those of inclusion. “Looks like nothing, this unified French team is something very strong, which will participate, in its own way, in the appropriation of the Games by the public”, rejoices Marie-Amélie Le Fur, nine-time Paralympic medalist in multiple events and who has presided over the destiny of the Paralympic Committee since 2018.
Unhoped for not so long ago, the rapprochement of the Olympic and Paralympic authorities is already a landmark. “Everyone took the measure of the challenge and this historic opportunity to organize the first Paralympic Games in France”, adds Tony Estanguet, triple Olympic champion and president of Paris 2024.
In 2012, London paved the way
To make these Games a popular success, the Organizing Committee has made equality and unity the key words of its communication strategy, thus turning away from the experience of the London Games in 2012. Considered by Much like the birthplace of Paralympism, England had left its mark on the history of the Games by equating Paralympic athletes with superheroes.
Para-badminton player Lucas Mazur, gold medalist in Tokyo, in 2021. / PICOUT GREGORY/KMSP/AFP
This imaginary « ultra-technological » awakens a fond memory in Lucas Mazur, Paralympic champion in Tokyo in 2021: “They told an exceptional, very inspiring story, on which we still capitalize today. » Tony Estanguet also sees a click in it: « Ce which was initially just a sporting event triggered a change in the way we look at disability. »
However, another editorial line, less flashy, was essential, in the eyes of Marie-Amélie Le Fur: “Many athletes do not find themselves in this imaginary of the superhero. And we understood, a posteriori, that this had created a divide between the top athletes and the others. Not seeing themselves as superheroes, some people have stopped themselves from playing sports. »
A change of perspective in media treatment
In 2024, the thousands of competitors in the Olympic and Paralympic Games will therefore be treated equally. “We are happy that we no longer make any distinctions between athletes, applauds Lucas Mazur. Disabled or not, we share the same daily life, the same sacrifices, the same will. On the field, in training or in competition, we give everything to reach our dream and win medals. »
This progressive change of perspective is felt in the media treatment, which is fixed «more on the beauty of the performance, the effort and the commitment, the specificity of the sport than on the nature of the handicap”, observes Marie-Amélie Le Fur.
Ultimately, this exhibition will bring out new inspiring figures for the greatest number. Alongside judokas Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner, young tricolor basketball prodigy Victor Wembanyama, or decathlete Kevin Mayer, para-triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant, possible flag bearer of the Blues in 2024, para-cyclists Dorian Foulon and Alexandre Léauté or the para-swimmer Alex Portal have a place to take in the hearts of the French.
An accelerator for the sports practice of people with disabilities
Marie-Amélie Le Fur is convinced that he will stay “a lasting trace” of these Paralympic Games. A legacy that the federations, already very proactive, will have to make sure to perpetuate. In judo, the gathering of Olympic and Paralympic athletes “Does everyone a world of good, both on the sporting level – by improving the skills of the management – and in promoting our discipline to everyone, in particular people with disabilities”, reports Frédérique Jossinet, vice-president of France Judo.
The “1,000 dojos” plan, announced at the end of 2021 by the French Judo Federation, aims to provide infrastructures accessible to all. “That’s what these Games are all about, resumes Marie-Amélie Le Fur. There are still too many people with disabilities who do not practice sport, 13 points less than the ordinary population. »
To make these Games a popular success, highlights will mark the next twelve months until the opening ceremony. The former champion hopes that the next Paralympic Day, on October 8, 2023, on the eve of the opening of the ticket office, will find its audience: “Last year, the event was a great success. It is a great opportunity for the public to try and observe the Paralympic disciplines,” she argues. The French will be able to meet athletes, take the measure of their performance, while people with disabilities will be able to discover the full range of disciplines available near their homes.
“The real cause for concern is popular fervor”
The sports movement is now feverishly awaiting the opening of ticket sales. Despite the announcement of attractive prices, Jean Minier, the sports director of the Paralympic committee, holds his breath: “The real reason for concern is the popular fervor. At this point, it’s not won. » Measuring the growing expectation of the public, Lucas Mazur imagines, “without a shadow of a doubt”, full stadiums from August 28 to September 8, 2024. “Since Tokyo, the media coverage of para-athletes has progressed a lot. One year from the Games, I feel great expectation. »
Jonathan Hivernat, wheelchair rugby player, during the France-Denmark match at the Tokyo Games in 2021. / THOMAS LOVELOCK/AFP
France Télévisions, the official broadcaster of Paris 2024, will support the promotion of ticketing on our antennas”, promises Laurent-Éric Le Lay, the sports director of France Télévisions. France 2 and France 3 will provide coverage « exhaustive », 24 hours a day, competition. The public audiovisual sector, already present in Tokyo, has been working for a long time to “to promote sports and athletes through reports or invitations to our “Stade 2” or “Tout le Sport” broadcasts”, he continues.
Recently, France Télévisions broadcast the World Cycling and Para-cycling Championships in Glasgow, organized for the first time in parallel, while the L’Équipe channel programmed, in its back-to-school schedule, the wheelchair rugby matches. A competition that could see France shine, leading to a welcome surge of popular sympathy one year before the start of the Games.
In the long term, a more inclusive society will inevitably go through greater media visibility of disabled sport on private channels, which have hitherto been very low. “We are still far from the mark, but it is much better than in my time”, concludes Marie-Amélie Le Fur.
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New nations for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
In Tokyo 2021, 162 nations were represented at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. In Paris, new nations should appear in the competition, possibly deprived of Russia and Belarus.
In 1960, only 23 nations were present with 400 athletes, compared to 4,400 athletes expected in Paris in 2024.
In 2024, no new discipline will enter the competition, which will include 22 sports, for a total of 549 events. Badminton will start the second Paralympic Games in its history in Paris.
In Tokyo, the tricolor delegation (14th in the medal standings) won 54 medals including 11 gold, 15 silver, 28 bronze.
The ticket office opens on October 9: 2.8 million seats will be on sale from €15. Half of the tickets will cost less than €25.
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