LThe last time we spoke with Dimitri Pavadé, one of the leaders of the French delegation of Paris 2024 Paralympic Gamesa silver medalist in the T64 long jump at the Tokyo Games, it was a few hours before the opening ceremony. At that moment, he was far from imagining the Patrouille de France splitting the sky of Paris. “I imagine fireworks, but I don’t see fighter planes releasing blue, white and red smoke.”
We talked about “rags,” recalling his work with Le Coq Sportif, the French team’s equipment supplier, which for four years worked closely with sports federations and athletes to adapt equipment to the technical criteria, sizes, constraints and specific needs of each discipline and each athlete, taking into account their disability. “I worked… Well, that’s easy to say. I gave my opinion, but without participating in the design. I’m small, so it wasn’t too complicated,” he admits with a smile, visibly satisfied with the allocation received. “A full suitcase was better than in Tokyo.”
A split jump
Dimitri Pavadé, silver medalist at the Tokyo Games in the T64 long jump. Here, during the Olympic torch relay, with his signature jump: the splits in mid-air.
© Maxime Le Pihif/SIPA / SIPA / Maxime Le Pihif/SIPA
Dimitri Pavadé, 35, and Markus Rehm, 36, both prosthetists by trade, all from […] Read more