Paris 2024, or how the Paralympic Games made in France will be an accelerator for the inclusion of people with disabilities within French sports clubs. A desire that the organizers of the Games hope to achieve. But what is really planned?
- The Olympic and Paralympic Games which will take place in France should be a driving force for the inclusion of people with disabilities within physical and sporting activity structures.
- A day of mobilization is scheduled for Sunday October 8 in Paris to raise awareness among the population about the practice of sport adapted for people with disabilities.
- 3,000 French sports clubs capable of welcoming people with disabilities are hoped for in 2024.
Paris 2024 is approaching and these Olympic and Paralympic Games are intended to be inclusive, accessible and above all a way to improve the conditions of access to parasport.
But will the Olympic Games and more particularly the Paralympic Games really contribute to greater visibility and greater accessibility for people with disabilities to physical and sporting activities in France? In any case, everything is done for.
Paralympic and Olympic Games on equal footing
It all starts with preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For each of the two, the same sites will be used, the same emblems and the same symbols are highlighted, the same outfits and unusual ceremonies outside the walls for both. The Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has tried to think of everything so that the goal is achieved.
Put on an equal footing, the Olympic Games and the Paralympics are considered complementary. The second constituting the “return match” of the first. We must see here a real desire to highlight Paralympic sport but also parasport in its entirety.
Let us not forget that in addition to being a public health issue through its positive effect on physical and mental health, sport remains a vector of inclusion, social integration and well-being. And that whether we are valid or not.
It is an excellent way to erase “differences” or rather to be a link between all the differences.
General mobilization on October 8, 2023
And moreover, as a precursor to the hoped-for impact on sport adapted to people with disabilities (whatever it may be), a general mobilization is planned for the Paralympic day 2023 which will take place on the Place de la République in Paris, on Sunday October 8. This is the 2th version (the 1time took place in 2022 at Bastille).
The objective is to discover and raise awareness of parasport. And with 24 Parasports (including 17 sports represented at the Paralympic Games) in demonstration and initiation, more than 80 athletes present (para and non-para), this day aims to be a unique sporting event open to all, whether you are in disabled or not.
The goal: to raise awareness among the population about parasporting.
Towards increasingly inclusive sports clubs
Moreover, by the end of 2024, the French Paralympic and Sports Committee wants the opening of 3,000 clubs in the capacity to accommodate people with disabilities. Knowing that currently, only 1.4% of sports clubs say they are able to welcome people with disabilities.
The problems often mentioned to allow the arrival of para-sportspeople is the lack of resources, trained people or even slots. This is why the program Inclusive club is part of the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Supported by the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF) and supported by the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Inclusive Club is the result of an experiment conducted with the city of Paris and the Paris 2024 Games Organizing Committee, which aims to train managers and supervisors of ordinary sports clubs to welcome people with disabilities. This first phase, deployed thanks to the support of the city of Paris and the French Handisport Federations (FFH) and Adapted Sport (FFSA), has demonstrated its relevance. It allows, in a supervised manner, to raise awareness and support clubs to enable them to welcome people with disabilities. As such, it offers the sharing of adapted tools, training sessions and sharing of experience, a pooling of resources between clubs, a reflection on associative projects linked to the reception of people in situations of disability.
Sport is an effective way to achieve inclusion. This is why making this practice more accessible in a supervised manner is more than essential.
Media coverage of sports adapted to disabilities which must improve
It is also in this context that Arcom (Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication), created in 2021 in partnership with the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the delegated ministry responsible for people with disabilities and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF), sets up from October 2 to 8 the 3th edition of the operation “Let’s play together”. This event encourages audiovisual media (televisions, radios, etc.) to include more sports broadcasts, topics, programs and interviews devoted to parasport and the various players in the world of disability.
An excellent initiative which also allows us to highlight inspiring journeys, and above all to demonstrate that sport is a formidable vector of transformation towards a more inclusive society.
Let’s not forget that more than 14% of the French population has a disability and that only 56% of these people practice occasional physical activity (compared to 72% in the general population).
Soon, sport for everyone. And even though there is still a lot to do, we believe in it.
