“We hope for an impact, not to trivialize but to make disability common”: the games of Orianne Lopez, doctor of the French team

Orianne Lopez, au centre, lors de la finale du 100 mètres des jeux de Londres. ARCHIVES Midi Libre – EMILIE WOOD

A record of 4,400 participants including 237 French under the eye of Oriane Lopez, 35, doctor at the Montpellier University Hospital and referring physician of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee. Organization, issues, challenges… while the Paralympic Games are launched, the former athlete, finalist of the 100 meters at the London Games in 2012, hopes that the Paris Games will change the way we look at disability.

"Disability is not inevitable, and we can really be happy with it", confided a few years ago Orianne Lopez, a disabled sports champion who became a doctor at the Montpellier University Hospital and the Saint-Pierre Institute in Palavas-les-Flots, where she supports children with neuromuscular diseases. In Paris, she watches over the health of French athletes.

Orianne Lopez, the athlete who became a doctor at the CHU, medical advisor for the France staff in Paris: “Disability is not inevitable”. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

You are the coordinating physician of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, what does that imply?

During the year I am the only salaried doctor of the Paralympic Committee. My mission for the games was the organization of the medical system: we have 237 athletes and 20 training partners, that's a total of 257 people, 180 more with the staff. The French delegation exceeds 400 people who can all have medical needs. You can be sick even if you are a coach. My role was to anticipate all the needs. I also take care of the logistics of physiotherapy and nursing care, it was necessary to assess the needs in terms of recovery, and the daily needs of athletes who are in a situation of great disability, both in human and material resources.

The objective is to put the athletes in the best conditions.

In the Olympic village, there is therefore a small hospital…

There is a polyclinic, which is under the responsibility of the organizing committee, open to all countries. Our medical team, which I just mentioned, is specific to the French team. We only use the polyclinic if we have a specific need or expertise that is not within our skills: a scanner, a dentist consultation…

The health team specific to France at these games is five doctors in Paris and one in Châteauroux, two other doctors specific to sports disciplines, 37 physiotherapists, five nurses, a nursing assistant, a psychologist.

That's a total of 52 health professionals, which is unprecedented. But we have never had such a large delegation.

Athletes to follow at the Paralympic Games. Midi Libre – SOPHIE WAUQUIER

Paralympic Games, Olympic Games, it's the same medical problem, or it's more complicated with disabled champions ?

The organization is identical, but the needs are not the same. At the Paralympic Games, we need to quantify the needs for technical aids for autonomy, for example. We have people who don't need a wheelchair on a daily basis, but because we are at the games, because they are there for performance, we will advise them to use a wheelchair.

Athletes also need patient lifts, medical beds, etc. all this is organized.

“As a doctor, this will be my third Paralympic Games”

For recovery after exercise, it's the same thing on the other hand ?

The Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee have the same tools. But there may be more needs. We know for example that wheelchair athletes have more shoulder problems.

This is the first time that Paris has hosted the Paralympic Games, there is a lot at stake ?

As a doctor, these are my third Paralympic Games, I was in Tokyo and Beijing. We are experienced and we are in Paris!

Of the 237 athletes, 121 of them are experiencing their first selection, we have to reassure, explain… the pressure is mainly linked to the fact that we have a lot of athletes and we want to be as efficient as possible. We inevitably have unforeseen events, but in general, it goes well. We know each other well and we are close-knit. We provide a five-person team, 24/7.

We are particularly vigilant about the heat. We have athletes who, due to their disabilities, cannot recover. We have equipped the athletes with cold jackets.

You were a high-level athlete yourself, that helps you?

I think it's an asset. I've been able to see in my career what worked and what was less effective, the times when I found that I wasn't given enough attention to be at my best. Maybe I'm a little more attentive, and that's also my daily activity as a doctor: I only work 40% for the Paralympic Committee. The rest of the time, I work at the Montpellier University Hospital and the Saint-Pierre Institute with children who have neuromuscular diseases, and who often need help with their autonomy.

“We are in a society that is difficult about inclusion”

You are “hooked” on the Olympic atmosphere ?

Yes ! In the end, the excitement is there. We know that the games change us, we are never the same before and after, we know that we come out of them stronger. We live a human experience that makes us evolve.

Whatever the performance ?

Yes, and we hope that there will be more joy than sadness, lots of medals. We will have many medals, the results will be there.

When you have a disability, you have a motivation that is not comparable to that of a non-disabled athlete, given the obstacles to overcome ?

Yes, these are very inspiring life stories. I'm not going to say that it's more inspiring than an able-bodied person, there are also magnificent life stories. But among para-athletes, there is still this element of resilience, of accomplishment, which is crucial in their story.

And then the question of disability, is that today we are in a society that is still sometimes difficult on inclusion, professional inclusion, in higher education, social inclusion… We have the impression that sport is the “icing on the cake”. Today, when you have a significant disability, having the most classic life possible is already not classic! We have this seed of champion in us and sport is just a revealer of that.

I think that it was as difficult in my life to become a doctor as it was to become a Paralympic finalist. It was sacrifices, demands on myself, sometimes societal obstacles that were at least equivalent.

Today, we admire our para-athletes, but they are also men and women who are most brilliant in their lives outside of their own lives. The games are also an opportunity to talk about that. Champions will be awarded medals, but some struggle to find accessible employment, an environment conducive to autonomy.

You hope that these games will be an opportunity to go further ?

We hope, yes, that there will be an impact on society, mentalities, the fact of not trivializing but making disability common.

Our second challenge is to ensure that parasport can have its place in the life of a disabled person, whether as a leisure activity or in a competition. Sport can be a factor in development and help with a life project, self-affirmation, well-being, health, and inclusion. It often happens that the children I follow tell me “I can't”. I tell them that they can. Sport reveals abilities that we don't even suspect. The question of sport had been crossed out of their minds when the illness was announced.

Paralympism is not just about an amputee running, it is also for a person with muscular dystrophy who can do boccia, it is also for the blind who can do tandem cycling… we would like the people concerned to realize this so that they can seize this opportunity.

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