Paris Organizers Aim To Emulate Success Of London 2012 As 'normalcy' Returns To Paralympics | CBC Sports

It’s been more than a decade since the last Summer Paralympics went off without major controversy.

In 2016, Zika Virus concerns were compounded when, two weeks before the Games, the International Paralympic Committee announced it was making massive cuts amid the biggest financial restraints of its history – including a partial stripdown of the Rio Games themselves.

In 2021, after the Games were already delayed a year, fans and family remained banned from Tokyo amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

You’d have to go back to London 2012, then, for the last time the Paralympics could proceed unbothered.

And according to those who were there: what a Paralympics it was.

“London has probably been the best Games I’ve been to,” said Canadian goalball captain Amy Burk, who competed there and in every Paralympics since. “It was just the crowds were so welcoming, the volunteers, like everything. It was just a well put-together Games.”

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Even the Paris 2024 organizers are wary of London’s reputation. Catherine Gosselin-Despres, the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s chief sport officer, visited Paris about two months ago.

“The French, and Paris 2024, have really embraced the challenge and they absolutely want to do better than London,” she said. “They say even just when they present, ‘This opening ceremony is going to be unique, the best one since London.’

“All of the Games in between are not necessarily mentioned.”

There are plenty of reasons to believe that Paris can match, or even exceed, the lore of London. Fans will return, historic venues will be front and centre and, in North America, the timezone will be better than each of the three most recent Paralympics.

In London, organizers were able to change public attitudes about Paralympians from being viewed through the lens of their disabilities to being seen as elite athletes.

One memorable ad in between the Olympics and Paralympics used the slogan “thanks for the warmup.”

“Even their campaigns were cool, you know?” said Cindy Ouellet, a Canadian wheelchair basketball and Para skier who competed at the 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021 Paralympics. 

“If you’re a kid or an upcomer or you just got your injury or whatever and you see that commercial, it’s like, ‘Hey, like I wanna be them, they’re cool.’

“Yes, we all have a story because we’re either born with a disability or we acquired one. So obviously there’s a sad story or a big story behind that, but it’s not why we’re athletes. It’s just part of our life. I think London really was the first time that a place that really captured that, hey, it’s athletes and it’s high level.”

Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, acknowledged modelling France’s Paralympics after London’s.

“Their success was about very strong communication,” he said in 2021.

‘We’re just as competitive’ as OlympiansEquality in the public eye is important to many Paralympians, who commit themselves to their sport at an elite level similarly to Olympians.

“We’re no different. We train just as hard, we’re just as competitive,” said Alison Levine, a Canadian boccia player who debuted at the 2016 Paralympics. “In my opinion, I’m definitely biased, but I think we Paralympians are more incredible than the Olympians because we do what they do and deal with living as people with disabilities in a very inaccessible world on top of it.”

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a difference. Levine recalled walking into a souvenir shop in Tokyo, where every Olympics-branded item was matched by a Paralympic counterpart – something that didn’t exist in Rio.

Gosselin-Despres, the Quebec City native who has held her position since 2013, said French branding for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will often just read as “Jeux Olympiques” – forgoing the “et Paralympiques.” That’s not the case in Paris.

“I’m excited that the P is always there,” she said. “So, Olympic and Paralympic, it’s used consistently. They’re really trying to give the same level of services for both Games.”

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