Paris 2024: Île-de-France, land of the Paralympic Games

Paris 2024 would have loved to organize the Paralympic Games at the beginning of September, to allow a school public to attend events as spectacular as they are rich in emotions. If he has had to deal with an imposed schedule, the Cojo knows that the change of perspective he wishes to bring to disability will mainly go through the children. The enthusiasm for Olympic week in schools demonstrates this. For the next edition (January 24 to 28, 2022), 80% of the projects proposed by schools are geared towards disabled sports.

And it is a family audience which, from August 28 to September 8, 2024, should gather at the various sites – all located in Paris and Île-de-France – to attend the 540 events on the Paralympic Games program. If Paris 2024 has already unified its French Olympic and Paralympic team (in particular with the desire to increase the popularity of Paralympic athletes, so that the general public want to follow them), it wished to offer identical sites. . As for the able-bodied, the para-riding events will take place in Versailles, swimming at the Defense Arena and the wheelchair basketball tournaments at Bercy. The Eiffel Tower will also be part of the decor since, at its feet, blind football matches will be organized. Finally, the 4,350 athletes will stay in the same village as the able-bodied, in Saint-Denis – L’Ile-Saint-Denis.

In terms of inheritance, the stakes are extremely high. “Better accessibility to sports arenas, surface transport and cultural venues for people with disabilities, but also allow them to practice sport,” explains Ludivine Munos, the former Paralympic swimmer now responsible for the sport. integration within the Cojo. “We have set ourselves the goal of doubling the number of practitioners,” she explains. With the city of Paris, a vast plan has already been deployed, aiming to open disabled sports sections in clubs, via aid to buy specific equipment and to train coaches. “We are unanimous on the importance of getting things done thanks to the Games,” sums up Ludivine Munos.