The captivating cauldron, the smiles of the volunteers, Florent Manaudou as a link to transmit the flame, and already the return of Antoine Griezmann’s “medal alert!”… Everything is back, familiar but different: lightness must resist life which resumes its course and the capital no longer has quite the trappings of an unreal summer.
“It’s harder to follow, the holidays are over, and honestly, I know a lot less about sports and even less about athletes… But I’m still ready to get carried away!” confides Florian, who has not yet returned to Club France: the back base of the supporters is barely quivering for the moment. The Paralympic Games logically arouse a less massive and demonstrative momentum, but, for their followers, they serve as a return match or a welcome extension.
A catch-up session, too: the Saint-Quentin velodrome has once again become a cauldron, heated by the many Bretons who came to support Alexandre Léauté, crowned in pursuit and bronze in time trial on Friday. “Magnificent!” savors Nicolas who attends all the paracycling events on the track. Passionate about sports, Axelle went to see the first “sitting volleyball” matches at the Arena Nord in Villepinte on Thursday with her daughter: “I found the atmosphere quite exceptional, lively, dynamic… The welcome and the organization were impeccable…”
Ideal for taming a new discipline: “The specificities, compared to able-bodied volleyball, were well explained, and I discovered a very spectacular and amazing sport! We admire the performances and the touching journeys that led to it… In some countries, just like able-bodied athletes, para-athletes are heroes, like the Brazilian swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo… This is not yet the case in France, but it may come!”
The French in search of 20 gold medals
The French champions are working hard in any case, in search of 20 gold medals and the Top 8 of the nations ranking. The objective set by Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, is still within reach of the French team. On Saturday, paracyclist Dorian Foulon brought them their third gold medal, in the individual pursuit (category C5). Swimmer Ugo Didier had led the way with the first French gold medal on Thursday, in the 400m freestyle (S9), investing the kingdom of Léon Marchand, a Toulousain like him: King Léon saluted the feat. The silver and bronze of brothers Alex and Kylian Portal in the 400m freestyle (S13) completed yesterday’s table.
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To achieve the goal, it will be necessary to have a bountiful harvest in the most favorable sports: cycling, table tennis and swimming…
With Nantenin Keita, Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Élodie Lorandi and Fabien Lamirault, flag bearer Alexis Hanquinquant lit the flame on Wednesday evening. The five of them embodied the French team in all its sporting diversity and through the different disabilities they carry: the Games are also a great opportunity to raise awareness of the great progress and the – great – efforts still to be made to better implement this much-vaunted inclusion.
