PARALYMPIC GAMES 2021. A few days after the end of the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games begin this Friday March 4 with the traditional opening ceremony.
In a context of war in Ukraine which challenges the values of Olympism, the Paralympic Games begin this Friday, March 4 with the opening ceremony. This ceremony will be followed live in full from 12:55 p.m. in France on the antennas of France 3 which will broadcast these Paralympic Games. For this ceremony, the biathlete Benjamin Daviet, was designated by his peers as the flag bearer of the French delegation for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games and thus succeeds Marie Bochet, eight-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing.
Moreover, this Thursday, March 3 and when they had to compete under a neutral banner, the IPC finally took the decision to exclude all the athletes from Russia and Belarus. This decision follows protests from many countries. “After a special meeting, the IPC decided to refuse the participation of athletes from the Russian and Belarusian committees in the Beijing Paralympic Games”writes the instance in its press release. “The IPC believes that sport and politics should not mix, but whether we like it or not, the echo of war has also reached the Games”she adds.
Here are the details of all the events of the Paralympic Winter Games:
- March 5 : Para-alpine skiing – downhill (W&H) (10:00 a.m.-1:10 p.m.), Para-biathlon – 6km (W&H) (Standing 10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m., seated 12:00-1:15 p.m., visually impaired 2:00-3:15 p.m.).
- March 6 : Para alpine skiing – Super-G (F&M) (10:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.), Para-cross-country skiing – 18km (H) (Seated 10:00 a.m.-11:35 a.m.) and 12km (F) (Seated 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.).
- March 7 : Para-cross-country skiing – 20km Classic (M) (Standing/visually impaired 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.) and 15km classic (F) (Standing/visually impaired 12:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.), Para-snowboard – cross (F&M) (Finals 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.)
- 8 March : Para-alpine skiing – super combined (F&H) (Super-G 10 a.m.-12.30 p.m., Slalom 1.30 p.m.-2.30 p.m.), Para-biathlon – 10km (F&H) (Sitting 10.00 a.m.-11.15 a.m., standing 12.00 p.m.-1.15 p.m., visually impaired 2.00 p.m.-3.15 p.m.).
- March 9 : Para-cross-country skiing – free sprint (F&H) (Semi-final and final 12h00-15h00)
- March 10 : Para-alpine skiing – giant slalom (H) (9.30 a.m.-11.30 a.m., 1 p.m.-3 p.m.).
- March 11 : Para-alpine skiing – giant slalom (F) (9.30 a.m.-11.30 a.m., 1 p.m.-3 p.m.), Para-biathlon – 12.5km (F&H) (Seated 10 a.m.-11.30 a.m., standing 12.30 p.m.-2 p.m., visually impaired 2.30 p.m., 4 p.m.).
- 12th of March : Wheelchair curling – final (2:35 p.m.-5:30 p.m.), Alpine para-skiing – slalom (H) (9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.), Para-cross-country skiing – 10km free (H) Visually impaired/Standing (10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m.) ) and 10km free (F) Visually impaired/Standing (12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.), Para snowboard – inclined slalom finals (F&H) (12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.).
- March 13 : Para-hockey on ice – final (1.00 p.m.-3.30 p.m.), Para-alpine skiing – slalom (F) (9.30-10.30 a.m., 12.30-2.00 p.m.), Para-cross-country skiing – 4×2.5km mixed relay (10.00-11.30 a.m.), open relay 4×2.5km (12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.).
The French delegation will be made up of 19 athletes, including four guides for the Para Alpine Skiing (2) and Para Nordic Skiing (2) events, including Marie Bochet. The para-skier, with nearly eight Paralympic titles in the standing category, four in Sochi in 2014 and as many in Pyeongchang in 2018 can again bring back medals in downhill, super-G, giant, slalom and super-combined.
The 19 French people competing for the Paralympic Games are: Arthur Bauchet, Marie Bochet, Hyacinthe Deleplace, Valentin Giraud-Moine (guide), Maxime Jourdan (guide), Manoël Bourdenx, Jordan Broisin, Lou Braz-Dagand, Oscar Burnham, Victor Pierrel , Jules Segers, Benjamin Daviet, Anthony Chalençon, Brice Ottonello (guide), Alexandre Pouyé (guide), Maxime Montaggioni, Mathias Menendez, Laurent Vaglica and Cécile Hernandez.
They were 138 in total in Tokyo (as well as 15 guides or assistants) to try to bring back as many medals as possible to France in these Paralympic Games. Details of France’s medals at the 2021 Paralympic Games:
- Gold medals : Alexandre Léauté (individual pursuit C2); Dorian Foulon (individual pursuit C5), Alexis Hanquinquant (triathlon) Fabien Lamirault (table tennis), Alexandre Lloveras and Corentin Ermenault (time trial), Florian Jouanny (line race), Kévin Le Cunff (line race, C4- 5), the duo Stéphane Houdet – Nicolas Peifer (men’s doubles in wheelchair tennis), the duo Fabien Lamirault – Stéphane Molliens (men’s doubles in table tennis, Classes 1-2), Lucas Mazur in para badminton (SL4 category).
- Silver medals : Alexandre Léauté (kilometre C2); A.Bourlon (weightlifting); Ugo Didier (400m freestyle s9), Sandrine Martinet (judo -48kg), Marie-Amélie Le Fur (length), Léa Ferney (table tennis), Matéo Boéas (table tennis), Loïc Vergnaud (time trial), Loïc Vergnaud (line race), Dimitri Pavadé (long jump T64), Florian Jouanny, Loïc Vergnaud and Riadh Tarsim (road handbike relay), Timothée Adolphe (100m, T11), Nelia Barbosa (200m KL3), the Lucas duo Mazur – Faustine Noël (mixed doubles SL3 – SU5).
- Bronze Medals : Marie Patouillet (Pursuit C5 para-cycling on track), Alex Portal (400m freestyle S13), Mandy-François Elie (200m T47), Annouck Curzillat (triathlon), Thomas, Kamkasomphou, Barneoud & Créange (table tennis), Raphaël Beaugillet and François Pervis (cycling), Nathalie Benoit (PR1W1x skiff), Erika Sauzeau, Antoine Jesel, Rémy Taranto, Margot Boulet and Robin Le Barreau (France 4 team with coxswain), Souhad Ghazouani (weightlifting – 73kg), Hélios Latchoumanaya (weightlifting), Trésor Makunda (400m), Ronan Pallier (long jump), Alexandre Léauté (time trial C2), Florian Jouanny (time trial H2), the duo Anne Barneoud and Thu Kamkasomphou (tennis team table tennis), the duo Thomas Bouvais and Clément Berthier (team table tennis) and the trio Nicolas Savant Aira, Florian Merriem and Maxime Thomas (team table tennis), Ugo Didier (swimming, 200m medley), Alexandre Léauté (road race, C1-3), Marie Patouillet (road race, C4-5), F lorent Marais (100m backstroke, S10), Rémi Boulle (canoe sprint, KL1), Alexandre Lloveras (road race, B).