On the evening of September 8, when the Paralympic Games close, the goal of twenty gold medals may have been achieved. In the meantime, and to achieve this, the organizing committee has taken on the major challenge of mobilizing the French behind the French Paralympic team. From the start, the tone was set: Olympic and Paralympic Games, same fight. Behind the slogan “We are the French team” or the hashtag #uneseuleequipe, valid and invalids will compete in the same stadiums (Stade de France, Champ-de-Mars, Grand Palais or Arena de Bercy), will stay in the same buildings in Saint-Denis and benefit, upstream, from almost equivalent lighting.
“It is the concept of a unified team, founded during the Tokyo Olympics and enshrined by Paris 2024,” confirms Jean Minier, director of sports at the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF). The French team is the French Olympic and Paralympic team. »
Before, we had nothing.
Everything has been thought of: a unique logo (a first), the creation of two mascots, one of which is equipped with a prosthetic lower limb, or the use of the same torch, which will be relighted in Stoke Mandeville, in the United Kingdom, to reach the cauldron at Place de la Concorde on August 28, the day of the opening ceremony.
“To the extent that there is the same graphic identity, the tarpaulins, posters and other promotional elements of the Games will not be removed and replaced,” says Jean Minier. This reduces the ecological impact of the event. »
For the director of para-judo, Antoine Hays, the change in treatment is necessarily welcomed with enthusiasm: “We are completely integrated into the Olympic spirit, we are one,” he reacts. We are also much more asked by the media to talk about us and that changes everything. Before, we had nothing. »
Three hundred hours of broadcast
In terms of media coverage, there’s no question of missing out either: the France Télévisions group, rights holder, has planned 300 hours of retransmission (compared to 700 for able-bodied people) between August 28 and September 8. We are far, very far from the three hours of broadcasting of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. “All the ingredients are there to support the athletes and their performances,” summarizes Jean Minier. The organizing committee likes to compare the Paralympic Games to the “return match” of the Olympics, and even to an encore, with the idea that it is during the encores that the best songs are played.