Flowers picked from a field as a reward, forgotten medals, non-existent bonuses… Little recognized during sports competitions, athletes with disabilities are fighting for visibility beyond the Paralympic Games, which are due to begin in two months.
With a silver medal around his neck, para-biathlete and para-cross-country skier Benjamin Daviet stands on the podium of the first stage of the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Martell-Val Martello, Italy. All smiles and the mountain in the background, only the crate of apples at his feet stands out in the photo taken on February 4th. This is nothing more and nothing less than the reward for para skiers who achieve podiums.laments the five-time Paralympic champion on X, formerly Twitter, with supporting photo. Apart from the fact that our competitions take place in complete anonymity, without the slightest broadcasting device. [diffusion]without any media, the value of our sporting results, of our hard investment, is contained in this box… »
These discounted rewards do not only concern para-skiing, but all athletes with disabilities. If in France The prize money for Paralympic medallists has been equivalent to that of Olympic champions since 2008, but such equal treatment does not apply to the sporting competitions that take place in the four years between each edition of the Games.
« We may be world champions, but we are in the second class! »
« During the 2022 European Para-Triathlon Championship in Poland, for a gold medal, I was given a bouquet with flowers picked from a field “, wonders Alexis Hanquinquant, six-time world champion and gold medalist in triathlon at the Paralympic Games de Tokyo. I can also tell you about the podium spray painted on the snow in alpine skiing, or the microfiber towel given at a swimming championship “, adds Sami El Gueddari, a former swimmer who became deputy national technical director in charge of performance at the French Federation of disabled sport (FFH).
In parasport, these examples are legion. In August 2022, during the para-cycling road world championships in Canada, athletes even had to pose with the medals from the previous year, because they had not received the right ones. Our medals didn’t arrive on time, they were sent to us six months later. I don’t know if it was an oversight or not, but in any case, it would never have happened to able-bodied athletes.annoys Riadh Tarsim, silver medalist in Tokyo and double world champion in road racing. We may be world champions, but we are in the second class. » During an edition of the Coupe de France, the athlete will receive a carved stone as a reward. “ We have the impression that they are just waiting for us to finish the race, to get on the podium and thank you, goodbye! »
Also read: People with disabilities: the first obstacles are in the streets of Paris
Non-existent endowments
In the absence of financial endowment – also called “ prize money » – and diffusion, ceramic plates, fruit baskets and others goodies then struggle to console the para-athletes who leave empty-handed. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), organizer of the Paralympic Games, does not offer bonuses during competitions in the ten disciplines for which it acts as an international federation, including for the king sports of athletics and swimming. The same goes for the governing bodies of most other parasports. “ The able-bodied have prices all the time. We, at best, are chocolate medals and bullshit “, castigates Abel Aber, European para-canoe vice-champion.
According to the BBC Sport study “Prize Money in Sport”during the world championships, while able-bodied athletes win 50,800 euros in athletics, 22,000 euros in judo or 41,500 euros in alpine skiing, para-athletes leave with empty pockets. “To date, there are still very few international competitions which give rise to a prize money for parasport athletes “, summarizes Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee.
Only three sports – tennis, marathoning and horse riding – offer prize money at certain events. However, they still remain lower than those of able-bodied athletes, with the exception of the London Marathon, which has offered equivalent prizes since 2024. Conversely, at Roland-Garros in 2023the winner in wheelchair tennis singles pocketed 60,000 euros, roughly equivalent to the prize money of an able-bodied player who wins the first round. For the winner in the able-bodied competition, it amounted to 2.3 million euros. It doesn’t really feel like we’ve won a European or world title. Me, being for the sixth time world champion, World triathlon [la fédération internationale de triathlon qui organise les championnats du monde] paid me zero euros », asserts Alexis Hanquinquant. For their able-bodied counterparts, the endowment exceeds 25,000 euros.
A not very lucrative market
For Sami El Gueddari, it is the lack of visibility of parasport that is to blame. “ As long as there is no greater interest from the media, there will be no issue of promoting brands that associate with the disciplinesays the performance manager of the FFH. Without an increase in partnerships, it is impossible for this market to develop and recognize the performances of athletes at their true value. » For the moment, the parasport coffers are therefore mostly empty: without even planning to prize moneythe world para-athletics championships, organized in Paris one year before the start of the Paralympic Games, were in deficit by 70,000 euros.
Also read: The World Para Athletics Championships, a full-scale test before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
For athletes, beyond the unprofitable aspect, it is the way parasport is viewed that is being criticized. There is obviously a little bit of contempt. As there are fewer of us and less visible, I think that the authorities say to themselves “They won’t complain,” Alexis Hanquinquant assumes. Para-cyclist Riadh Tarsim agrees: ” We are disabled people, for them it is already good that we are organizing a race. There are some who are missing a leg or an arm, so it doesn’t matter, we don’t care. »
On a budget of 17 million euros and without even offering prize money to the athletes on the podium, the 2023 Para-Athletics Worlds showed a deficit of 70,000 euros. © Pierre René-Worms / RFI
Bringing together able-bodied and para-athlete competitions
Faced with the lack of resources in parasport, media coverage, standardized rewards and the redistribution of bonuses are all solutions considered by those involved in the sector. The most widely shared initiative, however, remains that of densified calendars, which consists of bringing competitions closer to able-bodied people and athletes with disabilities to benefit from the infrastructures and sponsors already in place.
« At the world cycling championships in Glasgow [du 3 au 9 août 2023], they offered a Tissot watch to the winners. As the championships were organized at the same place for the para, those on the podium received the same watch as the able-bodied.recalls Riadh Tarsim. There is a difference once we are isolated. » In Abu Dhabi, during the 2022 para-triathlon world championship, organized in parallel with the championship for able-bodied athletes, Alexis Hanquinquant also left with his gold medal on his wrist.
This change, which has mainly been initiated since the IPC announced that it would separate from all of its sports in favor of disciplinary federations by 2030, is nevertheless not unanimous. Nordic skiing joined the International Ski Federation last year. It is therefore the same federation that manages the Olympic and Paralympic sports, with stages organized in continuity. What we have observed is a withdrawal of cameras and even sometimes of certain technical elements such as the wax boxes that allow to check the presence of fluorinated waxes, which are prohibiteddetail Sami El Gueddari. It’s really a question of market rather than juxtaposition. »
Also read: 100 days before the Paralympic Games: “We must mobilize the French and the world around the athletes”
The Legacy of the Games
If tickets are not snapped up, some hope that hosting the Paralympic Games for the first time in France will shake things up. Especially since the events will never have benefited from such extensive audiovisual coverage as in Paris, with the presence of a record number of broadcasters – 160 countries, compared to 154 in Tokyo –, the live broadcast of 22 sports – compared to 19 in Tokyo and 16 in Rio –, and a total of 300 hours of live coverage offered by France Télévisions. A first, as Sami El Gueddari is keen to point out: ” For the 2016 Games, we had obtained 100 hours of live coverage, but the big frustration was that we had few images captured. In table tennis, there was only one table filmed out of the eight tables of the games, in fencing, only one piste out of the two was filmed, and for the triathlon, there were highlights [moments marquants] of five minutes for a test that lasts more than an hour. »
For Marie Amélie Le Fur, the legacy of the Games on parasport is already perceptible. “ We have seen it in recent competitions, whether for the world para-athletics championships or the wheelchair rugby World Cup, The Team broadcast these sports and mostly live », Points out the president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee. For his part, if Sami El Gueddari also perceives a clear increase in private partnerships for para-sports and an increasingly impressive scenography during competitions, media interest remains subdued according to him. “ At the Para-swimming World Cup held in Limoges [du 7 au 9 juin 2024], we had pulled out all the stops because it was the last qualifying stage. However, we were quite surprised by the low coverage of such an event when we see paradoxically in many sports [valides] broadcasters join forces to experience the epic of qualifying for the Games », Regrets the deputy national technical director of the FFH.
More than a unique opportunity, the athletes want to believe that the upcoming holding of the Games in the capital will be a springboard for the development of parasport. “ I really hope that the French will become passionate about parasport and that next school year, France TV will broadcast parasport on TV to continue this movement of inclusion. “, confides Alexis Hanquinquant, in the running to be France’s flag bearer for the 2024 Games ceremonies. ” Parasport does not only exist during the Paralympics. After the Games, we must not meet again in four years », concluded Sami El Gueddari.
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