'We need to evolve': Paralympic athletes showcased every four years but largely out of the spotlight
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00:00Well, let's break these games down even further with Alistair Donaldson,
00:03head of Parasport at Loughborough University.
00:07Thanks so much for joining us on the programme, Alistair.
00:09It's great to have you.
00:10So 4,400 athletes competing here in the French capital.
00:14Who should we be looking out for?
00:16Oh, I think there's a there's a huge number of different athletes to look out for.
00:21There's your French athletes, obviously, and we've got a number of Brits,
00:24but, you know, it's a real worldwide games now, and it's something
00:27that's really expanded with the Paralympics as time's going on.
00:30You know, I know from a French perspective, I'm really looking forward
00:34to seeing Alexis Henquin compete.
00:37You know, he he carried the flag for you tonight.
00:39He was part of the ceremony for the Olympic Games,
00:42and he's the defending champion from Tokyo, as we can see on the screen there.
00:46And I think that's a hugely exciting to watch him compete.
00:51And he'll be part of a really strong French team in the triathlon.
00:55You know, I also look to triathlon as well and look closer to home.
00:59One of the Loughborough athletes, Dave Ellis.
01:02He's been a Paralympian since 2008 when he competed in swimming.
01:06He then competed in Tokyo, went in as the favorite,
01:10but unfortunately had a bike mechanical.
01:13He and his guide, Luke Pollard, go in this time really, really hoping to
01:17to take that top spot on the podium, as do so many other athletes from across the world.
01:22And of course, Alistair, we were wowed by the beautiful venues
01:25during the Olympics that were just a few weeks ago.
01:28There have been a lot of changes made to the venues.
01:31Can you talk us through some of the big alterations that have taken place?
01:36Yeah, sure.
01:36So obviously to to move, you know, for some sports, everything,
01:40you know, things stay the same.
01:42They're played in the same fields, but but there are different elements.
01:45But, you know, to go from beach volleyball
01:47and through to and goodness, I've gone and forgotten which one it is.
01:53To go from the beach volleyball and sorry, through to blind football.
01:56That's a very, very different surface.
01:58It's a very, very different way to play.
02:01But actually those sort of transformations can take place quite well.
02:05And it's something that's pretty common at games across across the globe.
02:10And we'll see in that respect things, things just taking place
02:13and moving to allow just a slightly different sport.
02:17But with the same spectatorship, I'm pretty sure all the venues
02:21will have been built to be as accessible as they can.
02:23So, you know, the athletics track is going to look exactly the same as it was.
02:27The cycling venues again will look the same.
02:30Some of the courses will change.
02:32I know, again, in the triathlon
02:35with the swim and the swimming in the sand, there will be some challenges there
02:38and some some slight alterations to to account for the different formats
02:42that Paralympic sports are taken into.
02:45But by and large, things will be the same, but there will be those alterations
02:49and bringing in those sports that we've not seen.
02:51As you said, there's things like blind football as opposed to
02:55to the football we saw in the Olympics.
02:57We'll see boccia, which is a sport for for those athletes
03:01with high support needs and one that's really engrossing
03:03and really will bring people in and really draw them in.
03:07And there's been a lot of discussion here in France about accessibility
03:11in the lead up to these games.
03:13We had the head of Paris's regional transport tell us yesterday
03:17that the metro system here in Paris is near impossible
03:21for disabled people to navigate.
03:24Tell us about what the impacts, you know, what sort of impacts
03:27that could have during these games as people try to get around.
03:33So, yeah, the, you know, transport and you draw the metro out rightly,
03:37and there will be really challenges in using that.
03:40You know, the athletes who are here will be well serviced.
03:43The organising committee will have put on numerous different modes of transport
03:48and they'll have all sorts of different accessible buses and so forth
03:51to make sure that the athletes can get around.
03:53But of course, it's not just the athletes who come to the Paralympic
03:57or the Olympic Games
03:59who require accessible transport and accessible venues.
04:02It's the spectators, the officials, the team coaches and so on as well.
04:07So, you know, how people are going to be able to get around
04:11and it brings in the reality of what it's like to be,
04:15you know, a disabled person that all the time things are not as easy.
04:20You have to plan far more.
04:22You often have to incur a much greater expense to be able to get around.
04:25If you need taxis to enable yourself to get around
04:29instead of being able to use the metro that the non-disabled population can.
04:34It really does make things far more challenging.
04:37And it is an area that that hopefully part of the legacy of these games
04:41will be an improvement and, you know, really sort of highlighting
04:45some of these inequalities and being able to move them forward.
04:47Do you think there'll be any other key points in that legacy?
04:52And, you know, one of
04:55I believe, you know, hotels is also one that often comes through.
04:59And, you know, how accessible are hotels?
05:02There are often, you know, one or two accessible bedrooms.
05:05But for for teams who want to stay outside the village, being able to stay
05:09in a hotel can be a real challenge, particularly those
05:12you know, the sports with high support needs such as boccia,
05:15such as wheelchair rugby, they really have to stay inside.
05:19So for Paris to learn from the games and for Paris to be able to learn
05:24from the building of the village, how to make somewhere truly accessible.
05:27It's it's exactly the same as happens in in venues across the world.
05:31I know for ourselves in Loughborough University, one of our challenges,
05:36you know, where we really strive to give our disabled students
05:40the best possible environment to play sport in,
05:43but also to go about their studies and to live in.
05:46And and therefore we're challenged every day to make sure that we can provide
05:49the most accessible venues, not just from a wheelchair accessibility,
05:54but in terms of of all different impairment types.
05:58And I wanted to get your thoughts, Alistair, on the timing of these games.
06:01In France, we're very much in the back to school period,
06:05and it's the same in many countries across the world.
06:08Do you think the timing is a bit awkward?
06:10Will it will the games draw as many visitors as the Olympics did?
06:15You know, we're over over here in Britain, we're exactly the same.
06:20The social media feeds today were just full of kids going back to school
06:24and starting that over the next week or so.
06:27Inevitably, that will.
06:29But but when we had the London Olympics back in 2012,
06:32we found that the spectatorship was just as high
06:35at both the Olympics and the Paralympics that the the Paris Olympics
06:39were a truly wonderful event.
06:40And, you know, tonight's opening ceremony in many ways is just,
06:45you know, accentuated that it's been been really wonderful
06:48to see Paris come to life.
06:49And I I truly believe from everything I'm hearing
06:53and everything I can see that the French public
06:55will want to come out and see the Paralympics
06:58and they will, you know, they will make their way and get out there
07:00and and get into the stadia and really support the athletes as they go through.
07:05Of course, people going back to school will will will change that slightly.
07:09But but hopefully we can we can still see the French public
07:11really get behind us, as well as the international public who travel afar.
07:16I know there's a lot of people from the UK going over,
07:19and I'm sure there will be from all over Europe and indeed the world.
07:23I really wanted to also found out, find out what you're looking forward
07:27to seeing. I know you touched on it a little bit in the beginning,
07:29but tell us more about what you'll be looking out for.
07:34For me, it's it's sometimes the surprises that really bring you to life.
07:38You know, in Japan and from a British perspective,
07:42we won in the wheelchair rugby, and that was the first time we'd done that.
07:46And it really came to life and actually getting to see sports
07:49that we don't get to see.
07:51One of the real differences we see in the Paralympic world is,
07:54you know, the Olympics and the Paralympics take place every four years.
07:58And it is such a showcase for for the world's sporting talents.
08:02But in reality, on the Olympic side, those athletes get out
08:07and they are televised and they're publicized, you know, every single year
08:11when they have world championships, when they have Grands Prix,
08:13when they have all sorts of competitions, they're really in the spotlight.
08:17The Paralympic athletes largely don't get that.
08:19And that's something for me that that we really need,
08:23you know, to try and evolve.
08:25So, you know, even myself, I'm someone who works in Paralympic sport.
08:28I have done for a number of years.
08:30I've seen a great deal of it, but I get to see so much more.
08:34I get to see the real skills.
08:35I mentioned boccia.
08:37It's a sport when you get into it.
08:38It really, really draws you in and really brings you in with the tactics
08:42and the way of, you know, the way the game evolves and moves forward.
08:48I also, you know, I mentioned the triathlon.
08:50I previously worked in triathlon and therefore I understand it.
08:54I know all the competitors and that's something that'll be exciting,
08:57but I can't wait to get into the athletic stadium
09:00and see some of that action.
09:02I'll be in there this weekend myself.
09:04And, you know, from my own perspective, I can't wait to see
09:08someone like Thomas Young, who's one of our current students,
09:11and he's going to be competing in the T30 800 metre final, all being well.
09:16You know, I'm looking forward to getting into the swimming pool
09:19and just seeing some absolutely fantastic racing in the swimming pool,
09:23just as we did in the Olympics.
09:25And I'm also the other one for me.
09:27We have a really successful wheelchair basketball team, Loughborough Lightning,
09:32and we have a number of the British squad are going to be there,
09:35but also Bo Kramer, who competes for the Netherlands in their team
09:39that goes in to defend the women's gold medal.
09:42So there's so many different events and different competitions
09:45that I can't wait to see.
09:47Well, Alistair, have an amazing time in Paris.
09:49Thank you so much for joining us on the program.
09:51We really appreciate your time.
09:53That's Alistair Donaldson, the head of para sports at Loughborough University.
09:58Thank you so much.
10:00Thank you. Do stay tuned to France 24.
10:02There's plenty more to come.