Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Wednesday September 4, 2024 at 9:48 a.m.
Marie-José Pérec, the legend of French athletics, is passionate about blind football, which she discovered during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
She was seen a lot during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Along with Teddy Riner, she lit the Olympic cauldron at the end of the opening ceremony, and she was very present during the events and the competition. Marie-José Pérec is also not missing a thing about the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The triple Olympic champion is extremely present and is visiting the various competition sites. On Tuesday, she was at the Stade de France to follow Arnaud Assoumami, who is taking part in the long jump competition.
Perec: “Blind football is the craziest thing for me”
“I’m going to watch the events and the French people like I did during the first part of the Games. Last night, I was at the blind football and badminton. I also went to see Marie Patouillet…”, stressed Marie-Jo Pérec who confided her crush on blind football. “For now, blind football is the craziest thing for me, because I had never seen a match. I was curious to see how they do it, it’s hard to imagine. I had seen images, but I wanted to see it on the spot. I wondered if the crowd would be silent. Because since the start of the Games, it’s been noisy, there’s been a crazy craze,” said the Frenchwoman who was struck by the silent wave at the foot of the Eiffel Tower during France-Brazil (0-3). “It was poetic! I was really surprised at the blind football by the respect for silence.”
Very enthusiastic, Marie-José Pérec highlights the success of these Paris 2024 Paralympic Games which are lifting France more than two weeks after the first major event involving “able-bodied” athletes. “We are experiencing amazing things. We have never seen the French public like this. The enthusiasm is similar throughout, it has not changed from the beginning of the Olympic Games to now. We sometimes see that people do not know the rules well, but it does not matter, they are there and they support the athletes,” confided the legendary athlete.
