SERIES. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games logbook

What is the daily life of a Paralympic athlete? How is he preparing for an event like the Paris 2024 Games? Is it possible to do change the way we look at disability through such an event? These questions – and many others – led the editorial staff of Franceinfo: sport to propose a format in which the floor would return directly to French athletes who are aiming for the Paralympic Games.

For the seventh episode of this monthly logbook, Gaël Rivière (blind football) and Ugo Didier (para-swimming) talk about their results and their ambitions this summer.

“With the French team, we don’t tell ourselves that we are the best in the world and that we are going to win. We tell ourselves that we are going to prepare as much as possible in order to be a very annoying team for the others .”

The J-100 is one of the moments when we begin to realize that this is it, we are arriving at the moment of the Games. Having had the chance to experience two editions, in London in 2012 and in Tokyo in 2021, this media enthusiasm for Paralympic sports can only be seen during this period. I am a veteran, I did my first World Cup in 2006. I might as well tell you that at that time, the word parasport did not exist at all, we talked about disabled sports and that was not all the same echo. I was in high school and I said that I was on the French blind football team, that I was going to be absent during the baccalaureate year to compete in the world championships. The teachers told me: “It’s a nice thing, but there’s the baccalaureate at the end of the year.”. In 2012, when I went to the London Games and I was doing my interviews for my master’s degree in law, I was spoken to 80% of the time about the Games. Between my beginnings and now, there is an incredible evolution, it has nothing to do with it.

I am a lawyer by profession, I work in a law firm. The particularity of this exciting profession is that it is very demanding in terms of time. My office agreed that during the Paralympic year, I would work reduced hours. Part-time as a lawyer, sure, but I’m given the opportunity to train every day. I realize that this is an important concession for them, and I thank them for it.

With the French team, we are ambitious for Paris but remaining quite humble. We don’t tell ourselves that we are the best in the world and that we are going to win. We tell ourselves that we will prepare as much as possible so that we are a very annoying team for the others. We have been European champions or vice-European champions for many years. The negative side is that it has been some time since we managed to get onto an international competition podium, almost since the London Games (defeat in the final 2-0 against Brazil). But we’re talking about football, and everything can happen very quickly. It happens over a week. For us to be able to perform well, the planets will have to be somewhat aligned. If we are unlucky in front of goal and every time our opponents score, it will be complicated. There is always this little part of magic, it is not an addition where we add the best players and where we are sure of winning. We hope that being at home will be a big advantage. But playing at home can also be a pressure that we are not used to experiencing because there are no stands for 12,000 or 13,000 people in blind football.

The basis of our success, as is often the case in big tournaments, will be to have a strong defense. We know that we will have the opportunities to score goals but when they arrive, we must not have already conceded three goals. We are homogeneous in terms of level. We don’t have anyone on the team capable of taking the ball alone, dribbling past the four opposing players and scoring, in fact that doesn’t exist much in blind football anymore. We know that we will have to be well organized, we have very fast players like Tidiane (Diakité), Frédéric (Villeroux) who is very technical… We just have to not be in a situation where we run after the score.

“After the European Championships, my track record and my CV grew. But that doesn’t inflate the ego of a champion or anything. When we look at the people who are present in the French para-swimming team, no, I I don’t feel like a leader!”

I returned two weeks ago from the European Championships in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. It was a good competition, I had my best times of the season… It was what I hoped for, I was keen to return to the international level again, that hadn’t been the case since the last Worlds in Manchester last summer so it’s nice to finish first, to hear again The Marseillaise ! And even collectively, we have never had so many medals at the European Championships (22 including seven titles), so there is only positive.

On a daily basis, I try to work to be a complete swimmer, comfortable in several specialties because the Paralympic program is less important. If I want to take part in several races and have the chance to make several finals, I have to be quite complete. In Paris, I am sure to compete in the 100 meter backstroke, the 400 meter freestyle and the 200 meter medley, the races where I won gold in Portugal and where I am the most competitive. Then there is still a question mark on the 50 meter freestyle, the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and the medley relay. Whatever happens, I remain at the service of the team.

With Samuel Chaillou, my trainer, we have worked together for at least 10 years, we know each other extremely well. He coaches me in the water, but also in physical preparation so it’s a real advantage. Technically, he knows my times better than me, he masters my paces, my arm strokes, my frequencies… He is an essential ally, well beyond what he can give me in the pools. In everyday life, I am his only swimmer. He also has the chance to follow me on the French team training courses, which allows him to know the other athletes better and to make his sporting approach more complete during competitions.

After these championships, my record and my CV grew. But that doesn’t inflate a champion’s ego or anything. When we look at the people who are present in the French para-swimming team, with David Smétanine who will compete in his 6th Games, Elodie Lorandi who has seven Paralympic medals, Anaëlle Roulet who has done London, Rio, Tokyo and I hope for her, Paris… I don’t feel like a leader! And it doesn’t matter if it’s a success for me in Paris, I think that the legacy of the Games will be based on something other than just my sporting results. The Games will allow, collectively, much greater media coverage of Paralympic athletes, better visibility of parasport, but in my opinion, it is above all at the social level, on inclusion, on accessibility that this will and must move forward.

I didn’t follow the torch relay too much, I tried to detach myself from all that. I was asked to carry the flame, but I had to refuse due to lack of availability. I prioritized my sports preparation. Maybe it’s a choice that I will regret in a few years, it’s possible, but today, I prefer to concentrate and avoid thinking about Paris 2024 every day, even if that is often the case. I need to focus my attention elsewhere, to preserve myself mentally and I try not to feel the growing infatuation.