At Club France, disabled fans from all walks of life admire and experience the excitement surrounding the Paris 2024 Games, hoping that they will promote inclusion and the practice of disabled sport in the long term.
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Under the metal frames of the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, hundreds of people are leaning on the bar or sitting on the floor to follow the exploits of the athletes. Eyes glued to the big screen at Club France, they are watching live the blind football match won by the Blues against Turkey on Tuesday, September 3. Mascots and tricolor flags accompany Sabine, 53, and her son Léo, 21. Both of them have a disability, and they have a front row seat to follow the celebrations.. “We followed the Olympic Games and then the Paralympic Games closely, we went to see several events as a family. The sites are legendary. They are sometimes difficult to access, but here at Club France everything is done so that we can experience this event with fervor”, testifies Sabine, her eyes glued to the screen. Suddenly, a goal for the French team: far from the silence of the blind football stands (imposed on the public so as not to disturb the players), Sabine and her son smile at each other and shout with joy, in tune with the crowd. An intoxication that they share and that goes beyond the celebration of the sporting feat: they see it as a sign of inclusion, solidarity and hope.
“Feeling represented”
Wearing a Phryge, Leo is “in heaven”. He himself practices many disabled sports such as football, tennis and karate. Faced with competition, he allows himself to dream: “I want to take part in the Games… But what I want most is to be a flag bearer,” he says, holding the plastic handle of his tricolour banner tightly. The light fades, the spotlights focus on the podium, the jubilation begins. It is time for the celebration, the arrival of the medallists from the day before. It is 9:45 p.m., Léo reaches out to touch the para-badminton athletes: Lucas Mazur, gold medallist in singles (SL4) and bronze in doubles with Faustine Noël, also present, and Charles Noakes, also a Paralympic champion (SH6).
Noa and Mélène, 15, are all the same. The two friends met through disabled sports: one sails, the other swims, both in Brest. They are among the 24 envoys of the Handisport Ambassadors association: they take part in training courses in which they are taught to talk about disability and to advocate the values of sport and inclusion. Wearing striped jerseys in the association’s colours, their visit to Paris marks a two-year journey: “After meeting all the other ambassadors and discovering their stories, you can feel represented by seeing the Paralympic athletes. It’s important and you realize that we all have a bit of the same daily life,” Noa rejoices. This evening in Paris, at the heart of the festivities, is not just a moment of celebration for the two teenagers. It offers them a shared dream: that of complete inclusion where sport becomes a vector of equality and recognition.
After the celebration, Sabine, pensive, analyzes: “It’s not the fact that they are all disabled that is important, it’s really the performance that counts. Otherwise we are in pathos. They are people like the others, with different backgrounds and who do superb things.” An example that she imagines will be constructive for her son. This is also the observation made by Hermann, 46 years old. The Swiss, a former disabled athlete and now a wheelchair basketball and shot put coach, came to participate in “this great celebration”. “The organization is great, the party is beautiful, there are the medals. That’s all that matters, I don’t make a difference between the Olympic and Paralympic Games in that sense,” he said.
“Visibility on the subject of disability”
What appeals to Yanis and Angelo, aged 15 and 16, is also the observation of a society which “seems to be moving forward” : “It warms my heart to see so many people at Club France, because disabled sport is starting to gain ground. When I arrived, I felt like we were at the Olympic Games because there were so many people. I’m happy to see that just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t be loved by people,” Yanis reassures himself.
Looking down at this row of cheerful young people, Hermann takes a step back: “It’s time to have visibility on the subject of disability, and we hope that through these Games, the authorities can take hold of the problem of disability and improve housing, accessibilitythe possibility of having adequate equipment.” Smiles spread as the volunteers began to shout the names of the badminton players to the rhythm of the music. He added: “The aim of these games is also to make young people dream, to give them this flame and show them that there are organisations within which they can practice sport, and why not become champions, who knows?”
