Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: medal chances, delegation… what we can expect from the French

Le stade de la Tour Eiffel accueillera les épreuves de cécifoot. MAXPPP – Jens B?ttner

For the first time, the French will be present in all 22 sports on the program of the Paralympic Games, which take place in Paris from August 28 to September 8. A strong presence synonymous with multiple chances of medals.

A large delegation

Individual and team sports, 237 French athletes in total are participating in the Paralympic Games, "an unprecedented delegation", recently underlined the president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee Marie-Amélie Le Fur. These para-athletes will be accompanied by 20 guides.

For the first time, France is presenting competitors in all disciplines. “It has been 20 years since the country was represented in the men's wheelchair basketball tournament, this is the first time that there has been a French team in sitting volleyball”, Marie-Amélie Le Fur specified.

Para triathlon, sport adapté, para judo… Nos derniers athlètes paralympiques sont arrivés au village 👀 pic.twitter.com/f8Mp1MCWyf

— Equipe France (@EquipeFRA) August 28, 2024

Daily medals

This strong French presence means multiple chances of medals. France hopes to finish on the podium in about twenty sports. It aims to be among the Top 8 most medal-winning nations, which will require winning twice as many gold medals as in Tokyo (11). A difficult but not impossible goal.

The resources allocated to parasport have quadrupled since 2015, which has already made it possible to double the number of medals between the Rio Paralympics in 2016 and those in Tokyo in 2021, according to Marie-Amélie Le Fur. France brought home 28 and 54 medals respectively during these competitions. "The beginnings of an evolution" to be realized in Paris.

Headliners

Certain sports should be particularly medal-producing, due to the large number of events and the good world ranking of the French. Among the favourites, Alexandre Léauté and Marie Patouillet, both of whom have been on the podium several times in Tokyo, should once again shine in para-cycling.

Combien de médailles chaque jour pour la France ? Les pronos de « L'Équipe » pour les Jeux Paralympiques https://t.co/z6J94hU9ii#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/tclWmRLc6e

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) August 28, 2024

In para-swimming, Alex Portal is among the favorites after winning three world championship titles last summer, as is Ugo Didier, who notably brought home four silver medals.

The para-triathletes should also have a nice haul of medals, notably with the delegation's flag bearer Alexis Hanquinquant, but also Thibaut Rigaudeau and Annouck Curzillat.

France also has a chance of medals in para-athletics with sprinter Dimitri Jozwicki, para-rowing with Benjamin Daviet, para-judo with Sandrine Martinet or even para-adapted table tennis with Léa Ferney.

Newcomers, women, young people

Among the 237 French para-athletes, 121 are participating in the Paralympic Games for the first time. The delegation is made up of 82 women and 155 men.

Women thus represent 34% of the French selection, compared to 25% in Tokyo, a record level. They will be present for the first time in sitting volleyball and goalboal, a sport that has no Olympic equivalent. “We are not yet at parity but we are moving towards it, if we want to become a true parasport nation, we also need to develop women's parasport”, stressed Marie-Amélie Le Fur.

🏅 Après la ferveur autour des Jeux olympiques de Paris, les athlètes paralympiques espèrent le même engouement. Sur les 2,5 millions de billets mis en vente, 2 millions ont déjà trouvé preneurs #AFPVertical ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/lH7l0TL0W4

— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) August 28, 2024

The average age of parasport players is 33.5 years old. The youngest, Marie N’Goussou, who is participating in her first Paralympic Games in para-athletics, is 15 years old. The oldest are 59 years old: marathon runner Rosario Gangloff Murcia and shooter Didier Richard.

The delegation includes athletes with different types of physical disabilities as well as six athletes with an intellectual disability, who will participate in the events reserved for them in swimming, athletics and table tennis.