Politique Internationale — What was most risky about the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games? Not reaping this harvest of medals?
Marie-Amélie Le Fur — These Games have been extraordinary. In purely sporting terms, the French Paralympic team’s objective was to be among the top 8 nations. Mission accomplished, with 75 medals, including 19 golds, in its trophy cabinet. It had been twenty years since France had been in the top 10. What’s more, we performed well in many disciplines, 15 different ones, which is a unique feature of the French model and one of its strong points. This does not, of course, prevent us from having a few regrets: some athletes fell a little short of the results we had hoped for; moreover, only 16% of our medals went to women. If we are ever to break into the top 5 – our stated goal – there is room for improvement: the nations ahead of us have more than 30% of women medallists. We also need to strengthen our presence in the sports that represent the Paralympic model, namely swimming, athletics and table tennis.
P. I. — Preparing, aligning and performing: how can you give yourself the best chance of overcoming the obstacles?
M.-A. L. F. — The results achieved by the athletes in 2023 and 2024, at the world championships, confirmed this ambition. There was real confidence because we had substantial resources at our disposal. For the French Paralympic team, the preparations for Paris 2024 were supported by a fourfold increase in the state budget. The public authorities, as well as the private sector, have all contributed to this effort. Whether in terms of coaching, infrastructure provision, training conditions or day-to-day support for athletes, a significant step has been taken in the professionalisation of the model. We needed this commitment: the precariousness of top-level athletes is a real issue, and providing them with a social and professional base is always a priority.
P. I. — Are new working methods being developed in sport to leave as little to chance as possible?
M.-A. L. F. — A number of factors made these Games unique for the French Paralympic team. First of all, our ambition was to have a denser team, present in all 22 sports on the Paralympic programme. This required a strong commitment from the CPSF and the Paralympic federations to identify new talent and make them competitive by 2024. We also wanted to strengthen the delegation’s overall competitiveness and maximise the advantage of hosting the Games at home. To do this, we explored new ways of working. In a nutshell, it was a matter of bringing all those involved as close together as possible and working together. We also set ourselves the goal of raising the profile of the French team and increasing media coverage. By initiating the ‘united French team’ and raising media awareness of the specificities of parasport, we wanted parasport to enter the hearts of the French people, so that they would be carried away by …