From ramps to a prosthetics repair centre, organisers of the 2024 Paris Paralympics say they've integrated a raft of features to make the athletes' village a model of accessibility in a country where facilities for people with disabilities remain overlooked.
The athletes' village was designed with accessibility in mind, according to organisers, and has undergone further modifications since its Olympic tenants moved out earlier this month.
Located in the northern suburbs of Paris and set to host up to 4,400 Paralympians, the complex is crisscrossed by accessible roads, pavements and ramps.
It also includes less obvious accessibility features, such as electrical outlets installed at a comfortable height for wheelchair users.
While some were built in from the start, others have been added in the transition from Olympic to Paralympic village. Organisers had roughly a week to cover up uneven floors with mats, fit grab bars and seats in showers, install specialised training equipment in the gym, and space out chairs and tables in the canteen to make more room for wheelchairs.
Also proving popular is a fleet of motorised devices that connect to the front of wheelchairs, giving users a power boost.
Ludivine Munos, a former Paralympic swimmer who now is now in charge of inclusion efforts for Paris 2024, called the village a "paradise" for para-athletes.
She remembers limited facilities during her own time competing, with only certain areas adapted for people with disabilities.
"That's not the case here. They can go everywhere that they want," she told the Associated Press.
Equipped to compete
One of the most significant additions to the village is a specialised centre for maintaining and adjusting para-athletes' equipment.
Staffed by more than 160 experts from German company Ottobock, the workshop is responsible for repairing prosthetics, wheelchairs and other essential items that may have been damaged on the journey to Paris, as well as fine-tuning them for competition.
In some cases athletes may even get an upgrade, explained the centre's technical director Bertrand Azori, who described opening up devices to find them patched together with DIY repairs or out-of-date parts.
"There were plumbing pipes, plastic tubing, being used as tubes in prosthetics," he told RFI. "With 180 or so different delegations, there are sometimes some surprises."
As well as a stock of some 15,000 spare parts, the workshop is also equipped with a 3D printer that enables technicians to make pieces to athletes' exact specifications.
"They're very competent in their domains, you can tell. They give everyone careful attention," said French para-archer Damien Letulle, who stopped by to get the tyres checked on his wheelchair.
"We can't have technical hitches hindering us and messing with our heads. So you have to do everything you can to make sure there aren't any problems and your mind is free to do your best in your discipline."
Who are the French athletes competing in the Paris Paralympic Games?
Athletes with disabilities underserved
The extensive facilities at the Paris Games remain an exception in France, where last year just 1.4 percent of the country's 160,000 sports clubs said they were adapted to people with disabilities.
According to the French Paralympic and Sporting Committee, people with disabilities have to travel 50 kilometres on average to practice the sport of their choice.
Via a programme dubbed Club Inclusif, the committee is aiming to support 3,000 sports clubs to become inclusive by the end of the 2024-25 season – a challenge that involves training coaches, procuring specialised equipment and the space to store it, and allocating time for para-athletes to practice.
"We've passed the 1,000 inclusive clubs mark and we're aiming for 1,500 for the Paralympic Games," said Sylvain Sabatier, who heads the programme for the Paralympic committee.
He told news broadcaster FranceInfo: "We've come a long way, but there's still a lot to do."
Paralympians head to Paris to set sporting standards and show need for change
