Almost seven years apart. That’s the difference between the average ages of the French delegations at the Olympic Games (26.9 years) and the Paralympic Games (33.5 years) in Paris. As the Paralympic events begin on Thursday, August 29, the oldest members of the French team, marathon runner Rosario Murcia-Gangloff and rifle shooter Didier Richard, are both approaching sixty (59 years).
Already present in Athens in 2004, the latter is participating in his fifth Games, and he is in no way an exception. Wheelchair tennis player Stéphane Houdet, 53, is in the same situation. As for swimmer Claire Supiot, 56, who suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, she will compete in the Paris Paralympic Games thirty-six years after having participated in the Seoul Games in 1988, among the able-bodied. And this phenomenon is not limited to the borders of France.
How can we explain this longevity? “It takes time to rebuild”answers swimmer David Smétanine. At 49, this 100m freestyle specialist will be taking part in his sixth Games. Victim of partial quadriplegia following a road accident at the age of 21, the man who was an excellent swimmer had to “work like crazy for seven years to reach international level and hope to join the French team”He had to adapt his swimming technique and strengthen his muscles to compensate for the loss of motor skills in his lower limbs.
“Like most Paralympic participants, I had a break in my life, he continues. We had to rebuild a project, sometimes adapt our accommodation, return to work or study… We only start thinking about high-level sport later on.” David Smétanine considers himself lucky, because his lifelong sport was at the heart of his rehabilitation, which made things easier for him. But he had to wait three years before a swimming club accepted him with his disability and his specialized coach.
Technological innovations
“Those who end up in wheelchairs following an accident generally start playing sports much later, several years after leaving the hospital. They are less worn out and their longevity is greater.”, illuminates wheelchair sprinter Pierre Fairbank, 53, another model of longevity with his nine Paralympic medals. Diagnosed with polio at the age of 9 which left him paraplegic, the New Caledonian has not missed a single edition of the Games since his title in Sydney in 2000 and is once again aiming for the podium in Paris 2024, his final event.
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