Jean-Marie Lapointe has learned a lot in his twenty years of collaboration with the Défi sportif AlterGo

BETTING À DAY

Jean-Marie Lapointe is spokesperson for Défi sportif AlterGo with Chantal Petitclerc and has been involved in the event for over twenty years. He does not hide it, he has learned a lot by rubbing shoulders with athletes over the years. 

“It's the cause that made me grow the most in relation to disability and limitations because in my immediate environment, I don't have people with limitations,” he tells us during the opening ceremony of the Défi sportif on Monday.

He admits it bluntly, he first felt like an extra-terrestrial and then adapted to a universe he married .

“When I was parachuted into this universe, I wondered what these handicaps and limitations were and I quickly realized that the person who was most limited was me. because of the prejudices, the uneasiness and my total incomprehension of this environment.

“There, I said to myself “who is the innocent who thought of giving me this job?”. It was the greatest gift, I knew the sport, but not the adapted sport and it opened up a universe to me, I learned sign language and I realized that I had to be the one who s adapt.”

In the armchair

You don't have to know Jean-Marie Lapointe very well to know that he's a guy of action. No wonder he tried his luck in a wheelchair himself.

In fact, it was his great curiosity that pushed him a little towards the event because he wanted to know. 

“I have already sat in an armchair. That was one of the reasons I initially agreed, I wanted to try para-cycling and wheelchair athletics.

“I wanted to get the perspective of a person in a wheelchair. I'm 5'10'' and just went down two feet. You don't see the world the same way, you have to raise your head to look at people or you spend your life looking down.”

Playground< /p>

When asked if he intends to continue his association with the Défi sportif for a long time to come, he answers without hesitation.

“Coming back every year for me means To find myself on the most beautiful of playgrounds.

“There is a bit of selfishness, I need to feel useful and to marinate in the world of difference. As long as I can be useful to the cause, I will say yes, it is too rich a world.