France has decided to make it a nationwide project to make 3,000 clubs accessible to people with disabilities, IPC President Andrew Parsons said at a press conference on Tuesday.

As a legacy of Paris 2024 Paralympics, the measure aims to support people with disabilities who want to go back to school and have better inclusion, and they will have coaches and physical education teachers in the clubs who know how to welcome them, Parsons noted.

Taking the chance of the Olympics and Paralympics, other projects focusing on inclusion and accessibility throughout the country have also been launched, where the French government has announced an investment of 1.5 billion euros (around 1.673 billion U.S. dollars) while the city of Paris is investing 125 million euros (about 139.44 million dollars).

"Previously, our benchmark was Beijing, they have invested a similar amount," said Parsons, adding that Paris has made noticeable progress over the past seven years in improving the transportation system and making them more accessible.

The effort will be kept for more years to make the metro system more accessible. "And we hope other levels of government can also [...] embark on the journey, and because of the Paralympic Games, we believe these discussions have been sparked...It will be a blueprint for any city in the world when it comes to making the transport system really accessible," Parsons commented.

The Paris Paralympics will officially open on Wednesday evening with an infusion-centered ceremony to be held for the first time outside a stadium in the competition's history.

167 National Paralympic Committees plus the Refugee Paralympic Team, altogether 168 delegations, will participate in the Games, which is the "biggest number ever", according to Parsons. And delegations of Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo are making their Paralympic debut. Furthermore, a record number of 165 broadcasters will serve in the Games.

So far, around two million tickets have been sold before the Games, and there are still 500,000 seats available. 

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)