Farea of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games inclusive games, such was the promise of the Paris 2024 bid committee and the organizing committee. An exciting promise, a bold challenge… The result, in fact, could be catastrophic for people with disabilities. A year and a half before the 2024 Paris Games, and while the olympic bill to be debated in Parliament in the coming days, it is clear that a disaster scenario is emerging for people with disabilities. If no concrete and funded commitment is made, the 250,000 expected visitors with disabilities from around the world will not be able to attend these Games in decent conditions, or even not be able to attend at all.
Three years ago, the Paris 2024 project, with a view to “legacy” of the Games and a sustainability strategy, hit hard, announcing the Games “to inspire”, ” to include “, “to change society”games “exemplary in terms of universal accessibility”. And our association is committed to participating fully in the success of these inclusive Games. These Olympics are indeed an exceptional development opportunity for France with economic, social, societal and territorial impacts for all, because if our country had already hosted the Summer Olympics almost a hundred years ago, it is a first for the Paralympic Games.
Paris 2024 was a chance for people with disabilities. A chance for the accessibility of public transport and public places, to promote the practice of sport for these people, for their visibility in society; a chance to finally build a society open to all, where everyone has a place. Should we speak of this ambition in the past tense? The question arises as the account is not there!
A first false note
Thousands of people with disabilities will not be able to buy tickets because there are too few places reserved for people in wheelchairs in stadiums or stands. For ceremonies, for example, the percentage of places retained seems to be the international standard (0.8%) and not the French standard (2%). Thousands of spectators with disabilities will not be able to be accommodated in Paris, the assistance devices at the station or airport being already saturated, with no exceptional device planned. Thousands of spectators with disabilities will not be able to be accommodated in Paris, the number of adapted rooms being notoriously insufficient, despite regulatory obligations, not to mention prices…
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