Paris Paralympics: Take a look at five extraordinary competitors in the fray

Heard of Alexis Hanquinquant, Diede de Groot or Omara Durand? Or are you aware of the fact that the Brazilian blind football team also boasts of a penta (five), like the number of Fifa World Cups won by the Samba boys, as they have won the Paralympics gold every time since the event was introduced in Athens 2004?

 Welcome to the league of these extraordinary men and women as the Paris Paralympics is set to kick off on Wednesday. There is a hidden story about nearly everyone of the nearly 4500 para athletes who will be vying for their moment in the sun across 22 disciplines – and that’s what makes the quadrennial showpiece so special.

Here, we try to cherrypick five of them:

Omara the unbeatable

 Omara Durand, the Cuban sprinter, has the credentials to enjoy a super athlete’s tag in Paralympics if there is one. She had proved unbeatable at every Paralympic Games, as well as World Championships since her injury-marred Paralympic debut at Beijing 2008.

 Her current medal tally adds up to eight gold medals: including hat-tricks in the 100m, 200m, and 400m at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. At Paris 2024, Durand will be racing for another clean sweep in her signature distances and also trying to improve on the world records she currently holds in these events.

Brazilian blind football team: The Invincibles

Anyone who is familiar with a glimpse of blind football knows it’s the sound of the sensor (one or many) inside a ball which works as an alert for a blind footballer on the pitch. It’s hence fascinating as to how Brazil, whose national football teams are known to weave their magic in the beautiful game, can rule the roost in this brand of football too.   

 The Latin Americans have won the gold every time since the sport made its Paralympic debut at Athens 2004. They have, along the way, fended off top medal contenders Argentina who have shared every podium with their neighbours except at London 2012. The solo goal that Brazil’s Raimundo ‘Nonato’ Mendes scored to win Brazil their fifth Paralympic title was the perfect touch to silence their long-time rivals at Tokyo 2020... at least until Paris 2024. Will there be a new champion this time?

Alex Hanquinquant, the homegrown hero

  French Para triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant was one of three Paralympians who were among the last Olympic torchbearers at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on 26 July. The flame then passed to French judoka Teddy Riner and retired sprinter Marie-Jose Perec at the finishing stages as they lit the cauldron together.

 Riner went on to win two gold medals at Paris 2024 in front of exuberant home crowds. The spotlight will be firmly on the men’s PTS4 defending champion Hanquinquant to give the local fans more reason to cheer in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Root for Diede de Groot

Diede de Groot, the spunky Dutchwoman, is no stranger to the clay courts of Roland Garros – where the wheelchair tennis event will be played. She has won five French Open titles at the hallowed venue, alongwith the additional 18 titles she won at the other Grand Slams.

A Tokyo gold medallist, de Groot was undefeated in 145 matches on the way to the Paris 2024 Games. The streak was broken in May, but she soon returned to her winning ways at Wimbledon and now looks to continue the legacy of her Dutch female predecessors. Her compatriots have won every women’s wheelchair tournament since the sport was included in the Paralympics in 1988.

Sugiura Keiko, going on and on

Sugiura Keiko, the Japanese para cyclist, had turned heads when she won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 at a ripe age of 50 years. She had outraced the field in the women’s time trial and road race C1-3 on what was her Paralympics debut.

 Back at 53 in Paris, she is looking to return to the podium once again. Given the fact that cycling can be the most demanding of all para disciplines, one can only admire at the will power and hunger of Sugiura.