The Paris Paralympic Games open tonight with a ceremony outside the stadium. Dressage rider Manon Claeys and wheelchair tennis player Joachim Gérard will carry the Belgian flag, representing a delegation of 29 athletes competing in 11 sports.
The Paris Paralympic Games open tonight at 8:00 p.m. with a ceremony that, like the Olympic Games, will take place outside the stadium. It will lead representatives from 184 countries to the Concorde and the Champs-Élysées, with inclusion as its guiding principle, for a show calling for a break from “heroic clichés,” according to artistic director Thomas Jolly.
Dressage rider Manon Claeys and wheelchair tennis player Joachim Gérard will carry the Belgian flag, representing a delegation of 29 athletes competing in 11 sports. Their goal will be to do better than in Tokyo three years ago, when Belgium returned from the Japanese capital with 15 medals, 4 gold, 3 silver and 8 bronze.
Last June, the most successful tennis player in history, Joachim Gérard, looked back on his incredible career.
RTL info: In your biography entitled “Revers gagnant”, written with the journalist Emmanuel de Bièvre, you tell everything, starting with the illness that caused the paralysis of your right leg. You were one of the last Belgians to contract polio. It was at the age of ten months and, despite this, you write in the book, you always considered yourself an athlete. How do you explain this?
Joachim Gérard : It’s thanks to my family, who always pushed me to do like them, despite the small difference I had. Very quickly, with my big brother, who is two years older than me, we started playing table tennis at home. It was a bit of a table tennis boom with Jean-Michel Saive who was achieving great results at the time. He also wrote the preface to the book. So yes, I started by following my family, my brother. And then, over the years, I tried a list of sports unimaginable.
Tennis wasn’t necessarily part of your plans at first. There was table tennis and swimming too. Were you thinking of getting into competitive swimming first?
Yes, I did. I even had the minimums to participate in the world championships, if I remember correctly, at the age of 17. Until I was 12, I mainly did swimming. At that age, I had an operation on my paralyzed leg. And after that, I stayed six months with pins. It was therefore impossible for me to go to the swimming pool. That’s when I tried tennis, and I will never regret that choice of having simply tried.
You mentioned the table tennis player Jean-Michel Saive. Was he your idol when you were a child? How does it feel to know him personally now, and for him to write the preface to your biography?
As I say in my book, he was ultimately the only idol I had. Today, I can’t say that I’m a fan of anyone in particular. I admire athletes and all those people who do incredible things in life, but I don’t have an idol. Now, he is one of my friends, which makes me very happy. And not only for the table tennis player that he is, but also for the incredible man that he is.
In the book, you chronicle your progression in wheelchair tennis. You detail many important matches from your career. Did you delve back into the archives, or did you really have it all in your head, down to the exact scores of each match?
Yes, I have a library of my matches in my head. I have a good memory, especially for numbers. I remember details quite easily. In the book, we mainly talk about the matches of the Paralympic Games, which are among the most important. I played nearly 1,000 singles matches and 600 to 700 doubles matches on the international circuit. Obviously, I don’t remember them all, but I remember the most significant ones, especially those of the Paralympic Games, where I play about ten matches every four years, so they remain easily remembered.
Your track record is very impressive. You were ranked number two in the world, number one for a short time, you won several Masters and a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games. What is your greatest victory?
As I said, I’m not a fan of any particular victory. They’re all wonderful. I was the junior world team champion in 2005-2006, I won two Grand Slams in singles and four in doubles, and my first international victory was incredible. Each victory has a different memory, a different moment. I’m not materialistic. For example, my bronze medal from the Rio Games, I hadn’t taken it out of a drawer until a week ago, because I’m moving soon. All these trophies and medals are stored somewhere, but it’s the memories that matter most to me, the ones that are engraved in my heart and mind.
You mentioned the Grand Slams. That was a blockage for a long time, and then there was that Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open. The key for you, as you write in the book, was the mental. Is that a crucial element in tennis?
Yes, in tennis, but also in all sports and in everyday life. And my results, which are quite consistent, are proof of that. I have accomplished great things, but I have also had very poor performances. As I explain in my book, the mental has been my weak point and still remains a challenge, even though I have improved a lot. It is both a strength and a weakness all the time.
As the Paris Games approach, how are you mentally?
He is very good. I have very clear goals. My goal is to win the most beautiful medal, the gold medal. Now, again, you have to stay realistic. Right now, the world number one and two are really above, but I know I am capable of beating them, and this year will be a good time to do it.
What are you going to do after the Paralympic Games?
After that, I’ll finish the year, and then next year will be my last on the international circuit before I retire. I think I’ll have done the rounds, even if I may not have achieved all my goals. I’ll have had a very good career, and it will be time to turn the page on professional tennis.
Have you ever thought about what you would like to do after you retire from sports?
That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about it yet. I have an incredible list of different things I could do. That’s why I’m taking an extra year until the end of 2025, to have time to think and have more fun on the court and in tournaments, even if I’m going to give it my all until the end. Why not grab one or two more Grand Slams, or even more, by the end of 2025? In any case, in the meantime, I’ll have other ideas for my post-career.
Joachim Gérard Paris Paralympic Games Belgian tennis player
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