After having thrilled to the performances of Léon Marchand, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Teddy Riner, the “return match” of the Games is about to begin in Paris. From Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 8 September, the French para-athletes will be on all the fields to try to win as many medals as possible.
Among them, some arrive in Paris with an already well-established status, making them spearheads of the French delegation. Here are ten profiles – non-exhaustive list – who intend to leave their mark on the Paris 2024 Games.
Alexis Hanquinquant (paratriathlon)
At 38, Alexis Hanquinquant is still the big favorite in the PTS4 category (standing category for athletes with moderate disabilities). One of the two French flag-bearers, with Nantenin Keïta, has been unbeatable since 2017, the year in which he won six world championship titles, not to mention his victories at the Tokyo Games and the test event Parisian in 2023. He will have the same gold ambitions as his compatriot Elise Marc in the women’s category.
Marie Patouillet (paracycling on road and track)
Born with a malformation in her left foot, Marie Patouillet is a regular on international podiums, both on the tarmac and on the track. Coached by the legend Grégory Baugé, the 36-year-old runner won Paralympic bronze in the road race and individual pursuit at the last Games in Tokyo, in 2021. A performance that she intends to repeat, or even improve.
Alex Portal (paranatation)
Barely an adult, this visually impaired swimmer from birth revealed himself with two medals at the Japanese Paralympics, then confirmed his status at the 2023 World Championships in Manchester with three titles. (100m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 200 m 4 strokes)At 22, the prodigy will be keen to make people forget his 2024 European Championships, where he did not experience a single victory.
Nélia Barbosa (paracanoe)
Having become a kayaking fan during a summer camp in Corsica at the age of 12, the Lisbon native has not given up her passion, continuing to compete for a time among the able-bodied despite the amputation of her right ankle following an illness detected during her adolescence. A silver medallist in Tokyo in the 200m KL3 (athletes with full trunk function and partial leg function), she is this time planning to climb to the top step at home.
Timothée Adolphe (para-athletics)
Author of the best world performances of the year in the 100m and 400m for the blind, the sprinter has a chance of a medal in Paris. He hopes to do better than the silver in Tokyo in the main distance, while he still drags a curse on the track lap. At the 2016 and 2021 Paralympics, he was disqualified for encroaching on another lane, then losing contact with his guide.
Sonia Heckel (bocce)
Suffering from a genetic myopathy, like her twin sister, the current nWorld number 1 in the BC3 category (player with a “severe” disability in all four limbs) in boccia, has the chance to shine at home. The Alsatian, who uses a ramp to throw her ball while giving orientation instructions to her long-time assistant, Florent Brachet, will be the figurehead of French boccia.
Lucas Mazur (parabadminton)
Simply huge at the last Games, where he won the gold medal, Lucas Mazur can aim for the stars in France. Victim of a stroke at the age of 3, which then led to a malformation of the ankle, the reigning Paralympic champion wants to double the stakes in individual and is also chasing gold in mixed doubles with Faustine Noël. They had won a silver medal in Tokyo.
Thu Kamkasomphou (paratennis de table)
Regardless of her 55 years, the table tennis player born in Laos is not satisfied. With already 10 Paralympic medals since 2000, including two singles titles in Sydney and Beijing, the one who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at the age of majority dreams of tasting again the exhilaration of the highest step of the podium at home. Like Fabien Lamirault, double gold medalist in Tokyo, in the men’s draw.
Alexandre Léauté (paracycling on road and track)
A phenomenon in his discipline, Alexandre Léauté did not stop at his four Tokyo medals, including one gold. Since then, the 23-year-old cyclist, deprived of 95% of power in his right leg at birth, has set out to conquer a veritable harvest of gold. As evidenced his incredible quadruple at the World Track Championships in Rio de Janeiro in March.
Souhad Ghazouani (para-weightlifting)
The Northerner continues to push the limits. Always on the box at the Paralympic Games since Athens in 2004, the one who discovered the para bench press as a teenager still has this thirst for success, at 42 years old. Lying on her bench, this athlete paralyzed in both legs will want to lift a gold bar.
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