There are 54my Ryadh Sallem celebrated his birthday during the Paralympic competitions. The athlete and community activist, who competed in these sixth Games in Paris (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 as part of the French wheelchair basketball team, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Paris 2024 in the wheelchair rugby team), believes that a step forward has been taken this summer and urges us to continue with this social evolution.
What image do you remember from the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Paris on 8 September at the Stade de France?
I remember the image of the French national team athletes who came up on stage at the end of the ceremony and the 70,000 people present who shared this moment of celebration with them. With the rain, we were advised not to go up on stage as the Olympic delegation had done a few weeks earlier, but the magic happened again: the boys and girls lit the fire, in front of an audience that seemed to discover a part of the French population.
I also remember the words of Tony Estanguet [le président du Comité d’organisation des Jeux, Cojop] in it “Paralympic revolution” ongoing. With Paris 2024, the sliders have been pushed a lot in inclusion, social and environmental, even if it is still not ideal.
Have you seen the number of disabled volunteers, the bearers of the Olympic and Paralympic flame, or other strong signals: the same mascot, the same organising committee, the same French team, almost the same media coverage… Tony Estanguet can say that it is a revolution, because we have shown that we can live and move forward together. Now we must transform this into social evolution.
Has the view on disability in France changed with these Games?
This change in perspective is not from today, but from a few years ago, with the Chirac law of 2005 on equal rights and opportunities, mechanisms of inclusion in companies, awareness programs, success of films such as untouchables or, more recently, Something extra.
It is not the citizen who is blocked by disability, but often our elites. I struggle to explain to companies that my wheelchair is not the symbol of disability, it is the symbol of freedom and ultimately of accessibility, provided that the places I go are also accessible! We need to change the semantics.
Did judoka Teddy Riner make a mistake by calling Paralympic athletes “superheroes”?
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