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At the Global Games in Vichy, athletes inspire young people with disabilities

In Vichy, the Global Games continue until Saturday 10 June. This competition brings together high-level athletes with a mental disability every four years. It is held for the first time in France.

Go Blues!“: at the Global Games, the exploits of French athletes with an intellectual disability arouse the enthusiasm of spectators who are also disabled, who come to encourage them and also perhaps in turn to catch the sport virus. This major international competition, which brings together high-level athletes with a mental disability every four years, is held for the first time in France, in Vichy (Allier), until Saturday, June 10. This year, the athletes participating in the Global Games are divided into three categories. The first corresponds to athletes with an intellectual disability, the second to those with an intellectual disability associated with a physical or sensory disability. The third, integrated for the first time into the competition, concerns people with autism, intellectual disabilities or No. Sylvain, 33, sings the national anthem with his hand on his heart, before launching “Go Blues!“. He is part of a group of about thirty young adults with disabilities, who have traveled from Metz (Moselle), and says he is delighted to “support the French team” women’s basketball adapted, facing that of Japan. “I wanted them to discover different sports, show them that there are top athletes who fight like lions, even with their differences.“, explains to AFP Renato Castellani, adapted judo coach, who accompanies this group. “These are the most important games for us“. Rowing, cycling, taekwondo… These athletes compete in twelve official disciplines, while they can only compete in three at the Paralympic Games (athletics, swimming and table tennis).

“Impressive”

Alexandrine, 25, appreciates the high level of play: “I like to watch athletes who play well and encourage them“, she testifies to AFP, a small blue-white-red flag in her hand. The passes follow one another, the baskets too, under the cries and songs of the hundred spectators, mainly French. But Japan are leading and widening the gap as the minutes go by.”It’s impressive, too bad for France, but that’s sport“, comments Yannick Hirspieler, 43, after the final whistle, synonymous with French defeat. “It’s nice to be able to discover all these sports“, adds this judo practitioner, autistic. He regrets the lack of visibility of adapted sport, in particular judo, excluded from the Paralympic Games, a situation “unfair” which he hopes to see evolve. Attending the competitions made Eva want “to do even more adapted sports, maybe basketball“. After the France-Japan match, the 26-year-old young woman took to the field with two comrades to try to score a few baskets. For the time being, she notably practices running and is delighted to also attend athletics events:I’m interested in seeing how others are doing.“, she explains.

Coming to the Global Games is “a very good experience“for these young adults, even if some play sessions are “a little long for them sometimes”, believes Delphine Weiczek, educational and social companion, who accompanies the Moselle group during its stay in Vichy. “This allows them to meet new people, create social ties and see that being disabled does not prevent them from doing things“, in particular sport, she reports to AFP. The French Federation of Adapted Sport (FFSA) has some 60,000 licensees, with mental or psychological disabilities, who practice a sport for leisure or in competition, within 1,300 sports clubs.”The Global Games are an opportunity to give visibility to adapted sport, to help families dare to take their child to practice a sporting activity.“, reports to AFP Marc Truffaut, president of the FFSA. “The territorial network and the range of sports available allow us to offer an adapted activity to each“, he adds. To increase the number of options available, the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF), supported by the State, aims to train 3,000 sports clubs to welcome practitioners in difficult situations. disabilities (all types combined) by 2024.

Written with AFP

2023-06-06 09:31:03
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