At 35 years old, the “Steelers” striker, who is experiencing his sixth Paralympics in Paris, showed the extent of his talent against the Blues on Friday, who were defeated 55-53.
Sign up to receive free our Libélympique newsletter every morning during the Paralympic Games.
When we started to take an interest in wheelchair rugby, his name quickly came to our ears. As the start of the competition approached, not mentioning him in the traditional articles on the “international stars to watch closely during the Paralympic Games”, seemed impossible, a professional error. Of course, it intrigues us: we type «Ryley Batt» innocently on our search engine. Result: an Instagram profile with not even 10,000 subscribers, a Facebook page with about the same audience, and therefore, a few articles, often in English, about this guy with the hairless head, full beard and broad shoulders. Also, in 2020, ahead of the Tokyo Games, he was one of the main characters in the Netflix documentary Rising Phoenixfeaturing renowned Paralympic athletes. But no time for the replay, let’s see, with our neo-expert eyes, “the legend” wheelchair rugby: the Australian played against the Blues on Friday August 30 at the Arena Champs-de-Mars, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The “Steelers” striker (ranked 3.5, therefore among the players with the least severe handicap) spent his entire match under very good guard against the Blues. Bob Vanacker, the Belgian coach of France, told us, a few days before the match: “We put tactics in place, which we tested at the Canada Cup when we faced Australia a few months ago. [match perdu de 1 point, ndlr]. The idea is to put an extra man on him. The most important thing is that he doesn’t play, that he never has the ball, because he will always find the solutions. If we can do that, we’ve already won half the match.”, recommended the coach. The efforts were noticed, but the plan went less well than expected: France lost 53-51 to the men in yellow on Friday and will necessarily have to beat Great Britain this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to qualify for the semi-finals. “Batt was unplayable tonight, especially at the start,” Vanacker whispered in the mixed zone after the match.
“On the pitch, I’m really not nice”
Because the Australian number 3 was hungry. For his sixth (and last, he promises) Paralympiad, his team had started its tournament badly, losing Thursday against Great Britain (58 to 55). And the behavior of some of his teammates seemed to have displeased the leader: “It’s hard to cite experience to motivate the younger guys. We just have to feed off the atmosphere here. It’s incredible. We’re representing our country at the most important event in our sport, the Paralympic Games, if that doesn’t push you to surpass yourself, I don’t know what will,” he declared after the defeat. The Australian repeats it over and over again: he is aiming for gold in Paris to conclude a career crowned with numerous successes, including two Paralympic titles, in London and Rio, and two world titles, in 2014 and 2022.
During the match, an Australian colleague, wearing his team’s jersey, was accosted in the press stand: “What is this Batt worth?” Answer : “The way he handles his chair is just exceptional.” It is true that on the parquet, the speed of execution of U-turns, turns, and other accelerations is impressive. “On the pitch, I’m really not nice, he also told the BBB in 2020. “I love trash-talking, teasing others. I probably talk too much, but the older I get, the better I behave.” Apart from attracting the boos of the Arena Champs-de-Mars crowd by delaying crossing the goal line to gain time – a technique well-honed in wheelchair rugby – the Australian striker is clearly no longer the joker of yesteryear.
“Michael Jordan of wheelchair rugby”
Sitting not far from us, the English-speaking colleague also said: “aggressive” to describe the player, born without legs and with deformities in his fingers. We understand this term when we observe the intensity that the number 3 with the immense arms puts into his runs… And into his stamps: just before half-time, he sends the French number 33, Sébastien Verdin, flying, who finds himself thrown to the ground, both wheels in the air. Direction the “prison”, leaving his teammates three until the next try of the Blues. On Friday, the French partially managed to contain the mastiff, whose solid strap at the level of the upper body reminds us that he has often been injured in the shoulder during his career. On arrival, he does not plant “what” 26 tries – ten fewer than against Great Britain – but was able to count on his attacking teammate Chris Bond (27 tries) to win against France.
“For me, he’s the Michael Jordan of wheelchair rugby. He’s huge, smart, impressive, super fast, the French coach told us a few days ago. He can do everything.” Except, perhaps, to stop for more than a minute in the mixed zone. At the end of the match, we went down the steps of the stand four by four to head towards the large corridor where the players pass after the match and ask the legend at least one question. We only got crumbs intended for our Australian colleagues. «Sorry.»
