“You really need to stop talking about us like that”: Teddy Riner annoys an athlete before the Paralympic Games

Teddy Riner. CAPTURE ECRAN RTL

This Wednesday, August 28, the 2024 Paralympic Games begin in Paris. An opportunity to highlight athletes who often receive little media coverage.

"Superheroes", "Avengers"… Invited on RTL on August 13, Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec wanted to promote the Paralympic Games on air.

But the terms used by the last two Olympic torchbearers were deemed clumsy by Sofyane Mehiaoui, a member of the French wheelchair basketball team.

“You really need to stop talking about us like that, you're not helping us“, he complained in a story published on social media.

“Come see us because we're going to make performances"

"I know he's not being mean and that he wants to help us, but he's going about it the wrong way, he explained to Ouest-France. I want to react so that people understand this. But when Teddy says that, it also means that we don't do sports entirely."

"The fact that we are referred to as superheroes does not help us, he insisted. We are people with disabilities and we want to be considered normal people. When we are overexposed, it is not good. We are not superheroes, we are athletes. So come see us because we are going to perform, we are going to achieve sporting feats, that is why you have to come see us."