France has high hopes for its athletes competing in the Paris Paralympic Games following its strong showing during the Olympics. The goal is for the 236 para athletes to come in eighth in national rankings, with at least 20 gold medals.
Olympic organisers and athletes themselves are counting on home-town excitement to propel them to gold, following France's success at the Olympic Games just a few weeks ago.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, France came 14th with 54 medals, 11 of which were gold.
This year’s 236 French athletes and 22 guides will compete in each of the 22 sports, including some exclusive to the Paralympics, like goalball and boccia.
Athletes in all sports
The athletes range in age, from 16 years old (Marie Ngoussou, para athletics) to 59 years old (Rosa Murcia, para athletics and Didier Richard, para sport shooting).
Though the French delegation did not reach gender parity, the 81 female athletes are still a record.
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In the past, France has won the most medals in the para athletics and para swimming events, and Marie-Amelie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee said the spotlight this year will be on France’s 27 para athletics competitors, along with the 21 para table tennis players and sitting volleyball teams.
France has sitting volleyball teams for the first time since the sport was introduced to the Paralympics in 1980, and the French men’s wheelchair basketball team qualified for first time since the Athens Paralympics in 2004.
French flag bearers
France’s two flag bearers are Alexis Hanquinquant (para triathlon) and Nantenin Keita (para athletics), who carried the Olympic flame at the start of the Games.
Both athletes are expected to help France bring in its medals during the Paralympics, from 28 August to 8 September.
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Hanquinquant, who is disabled in the right leg following an workplace accident, is a six-time world champion who won a gold medal in the triathlon at the Tokyo games in 2021.
Keita, who is visually impaired, and is the daughter of the legendary Malian musician Salif Keita, won medals in Rio in 2016, in London in 2012 and Beijing in 2008.
Also in para athletics, Arnaud Assoumani, who was born without forearms, will compete in his sixth Paralympics in the high jump, in which he has won four medals, including gold in Beijing in 2008.
More French athletes to watch
Wheelchair tennis champion Stephane Houdet will compete in his fifth straight Paralympic games, where he won three gold medals, in 2008, 2016 and 2021 in men’s doubles.
Pauline Déroulède, who lost a leg after being hit by a car in 2018, will be competing in her first Paralympics, after going from being a recreational tennis player to high-level athlete following her accident.
Para judoka Sandrine Martinet, who is visually impaired, will compete in her sixth Paralympic games, with the goal of adding to her four medals by repeating her gold win in Rio in 2016.
Nacer Zorgani, who is also visually impaired, will compete in the judo tournament, four weeks after finishing his previous role as the announcer at the Olympic boxing events.
Para swimmers Ugo Didier, who was born with deformities in his feet and legs, and Alex Portal, who is visually impaired, will compete in the Paralympics for the second time of their careers. Portal’s brother Kylian will be his guide.
Multi-sport athletes
Para rower Benjamin Daviet, who is disabled in the knee, will be competing in his first ever Summer Paralympic Games, after winning ten medals in Winter Paralympics, including five gold medals in the biathlon and cross country skiing events.
Heidi Gaugain, who was born without her left forearm, races on both road and track, in the Olympic and Paralympic categories. She is the first para cyclist to win world titles in both cycling and para cycling, and will be competing in her first ever Paralympic Games.
