Paris Paralympics organisers bid to eclipse London 2012 with new blueprint

The organisers are hoping this will be the scene at the wheelchair rugby at this year’s Paralympics. Photograph: Paris2024

This summer’s Paralympic Games “need to be better” than London 2012 if the progress achieved by disability sport in the past decade is to continue, the chief executive of Paris 2024 has said. Arguing that the “fantastic human stories” of the Paralympics should no longer be “the first thing we talk about”, Étienne Thobois also called on Britons to buy tickets for Paris and bring their enthusiasm to the French capital.

“The objective of every Games is to make sure that you have a goal to bring it a bit higher, set a new blueprint,” he said. “London put the bar quite high. But it was 12 years ago and society’s gone a long way since then, so we need to do better. And not just because we want to do better than London but because it’s our responsibility to push the movement in that direction in a reasonable and responsible way.