Between India's 29 medals and Sherman Isidro Guity Guity's two new Paralympic records, the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games were a rousing success. This success goes beyond the athlete's performance. This year's Paralympic Games received the most media attention of any previous Paralympic Games. In a world where people with disabilities are often overlooked, the overwhelming amount of support and coverage for this year's Paralympic Games shows that we are moving towards an inclusive world that truly makes space for everybody.
Opening Ceremony Parade, Supportive Crowds, And Unprecedented Broadcasting Numbers- The Ultimate 2024 Paralympic Games Recap!
Public reaction to the 2024 Paris Olympics was overwhelmingly negative. Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif was harassed on social media after the International Boxing Association (a discredited organization that was stripped of its status in 2023) revealed that a sex chromosome test rendered her ineligible for the 2023 World Championships.
A now-removed Change.org petition was created accusing Australian B-Girl Rachael Gunn of “manipulated the selection process” and “attempting to gaslight the public and [undermine] the efforts of genuine athletes.” The backlash was so intense that Gunn publicly apologized to the breaking community on an Australian talk show. Between all these controversies, sports fans consider the 2024 Paris Olympics “a disaster.”
In contrast, the conversation surrounding the 2024 Paralympic Games has been overwhelmingly positive.
Argentinian Paralympian Gustavo Fernandez made history by becoming the first South American to win a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis. When he won the men’s singles against Martin De La Punte of Spain, “the stadium was full of passionate and vocal fans.” Fernandez declared the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games “' the best Paralympics I’ve experienced in my life.
The organizers and the French people did an amazing job, making us really, really good. Everything was great, including the village; it was an amazing experience. It would always be in my heart.'” Local fans made sure to cheer for all of the athletes, not just the French ones to “make sure the athletes felt welcomed.”
American Para swimmer Jessica Long discussed how disheartening it is when people don’t express as much interest in the Paralympics as they do in the Olympics. She said, “'As Paralympic athletes we keep trying to push this incredible Movement, but you always just hope people show up.'” She went on to call the crowd in Paris “' the most incredible crowd I’ve ever swum in front of.'” This sentiment is echoed by Canadian wheelchair basketball player Arrin Young, who called Bercy Arena “' my favourite arena and atmosphere I’ve played in my entire career.'”
This theme of support and positivity extends beyond the competitions themselves. The Paralympic’s Opening Ceremony went beyond the stadium and “wound through the streets of Paris. This opening ceremony was “designed for universal accessibility” so that all "athletes, participants and spectators [could] enjoy an experience that [was] free from any barriers."
Many Paralympians took home unprecedented wins for their countries. Brazil won 89 medals and Columbia won 28, making them the two Latin American countries to bring home the most medals. Brazil finished fifth overall. Columbia finished 19th overall, a significant improvement from the 2020 Paralympics where they placed 37th. Costa Rican athlete Sherman Isidro Guity Guity made history in 2020 by winning Costa Rica’s first-ever Paralympic medals. In 2024, Guity won two more gold medals for Costa Rica and set new Paralympic records in both events!
Between India's Paralympic debut in 1968 and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, India won a total of 30 Paralympic medals. India’s 2024 Paralympic athletes dazzled Indian and international fans by taking home a record-smashing 29 medals. This amazing success caused Devendra Jhajharia , the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals and the current President of the Paralympic Committee of India, to reflect on how much the Paralympics have changed since his debut in 2004.
Jhajharia said that when he returned from the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games with a gold medal, “‘no one even garlanded me.’” Today, when India’s Paralympians returned from Paris, they were greeted with “ dhols and garlands and formal receptions from the powers that be.”
Indian sports fans have taken to social media to express how proud they are of the Indian Paralympians:
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games were broadcast “in more places than ever before.” Andrew Parsons, the President of the International Paralympic Committee , says that these numbers of broadcasting “'show that we are expanding the reach of the Paralympic Movement,'” which aims to “'make a more inclusive world through Para sport.'” Parsons explains “'If we can remove barriers and allow athletes with disabilities to excel at a global stage as we do in the Games, we can do it everywhere in society.'”
Despite this immense progress, there was still far less media coverage for the Paralympics than for the Olympics.
Threefold Advocate quotes John Brown University student Ian Contreras, who reports that it was difficult to watch and follow the Paralympic events. Contreras said “'Finding the actual schedules for the competitions was kind of hard. There wasn’t as much advertisement for the Paralympics as there was for the Olympics, and I think a big part of that is because of ableism.'”
Society still has a long way to go in terms of creating an accessible and inclusive world, but the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games proved that progress is possible. If we continue that progress, we will truly be able to “create a more inclusive world through Para sport.”
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