When I went to Paris for the Paralympic Games, I was slightly fearful for them. After all, how do you follow such a successful Olympics? Could the city rouse itself for another mega show just a fortnight later? I needn’t have worried – these Games were equally wonderful.
While the undoubted star of the Olympics was the city of Paris itself, this time around the athletes were definitely the top attraction. I photographed some remarkable talents such as the young table tennis star Bly Twomney, who has cerebral palsy, the American sprint sensation Ezra Frech, the extraordinary swimmer Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araújo who has neither arms nor fully-formed legs, and even the world’s second tallest man who was competing in sitting volleyball.
Many of the iconic Olympic venues were used again for the Paralympic Games. In fact, you could argue that Stade Tour Eiffel was even better this time with the green football pitch balancing perfectly against the red autumnal sunsets. Plus, on the final day, athletes in the marathon races were able to compete on the Champs-Élysées (billed as the most beautiful avenue in the world) which never happened in the Olympics.
But it was the Paralympic athletes themselves who made these games special – so many with awe-inspiring stories, so often producing captivating sport. It’s this intoxicating mix that makes the Paralympics a real privilege to photograph.
Wojtek Czyz of New Zealand dives during his defeat to Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in the para badminton men’s singles SL3 group stage.Ugo Didier celebrates winning France’s first gold medal of the Games in the final of the men’s S9 400m freestyle swimming at La Defense Arena.Competitors in the men’s PTS4 triathlon are helped out of the River Seine after the swim section of the race.Bly Twomey of Great Britain during her defeat to Kubra Korkut of Turkey in the semi-finals of the women’s WS7 singles table tennis.Morteza Mehrzad of Iran, the second tallest man on earth, hits the ball during the men’s sitting volleyball semi-final with Egypt.France play Turkey in the final group stage match of the blind football tournament in front of the Eiffel Tower.Misato Michishita of Japan, accompanied by her guide, runs along the Champs-Élysées on her way to third in the women’s T12 marathon.Fireworks during the opening ceremony of the Paralympics at Place de la Concorde.Ezra Frech of USA (far left) wins the men’s 100m T63 sprint final.Aaron Phipps (right) of Great Britain speeds along with the ball as he is chased by Jonathan Hivernat of France in a wheelchair rugby preliminary round group B match.Timothée Adolphe of France, with his guide Jeffrey Lami, won silver in the final of the men’s 400m T11.Gordon Reid of Great Britain plays a shot during the final of the men’s wheelchair doubles against Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokido Ota.Sheetal Devi of India competing in the last 16 of the women’s archery individual compound open.Jincheng Guo of China dives in at the start of the final of the men’s S5 200m freestyle swimming.Marie Patouillet of France wins gold in the women’s C5 3000m individual pursuit cycling final.Steve Serio, captain of the United States wheelchair basketball team, is upended by Great Britain’s Lee Fryer during the men’s final.Mpumelelo Mhlongo of South Africa roars at the crowd as he wins the men’s 100m T44 sprint final.Bebe Vio celebrates with her Italy fans after beating Eun Hye Cho of South Korea in the bronze final in the women’s foil category B wheelchair fencing.Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araújo of Brazil holds onto a cord with his mouth before starting and going on to win the final of the men’s S2 100m backstroke.Japan’s Tokito Oda celebrates after beating Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett during the men’s singles gold medal tennis match.Jerusa Geber dos Santos, a blind 42-year-old from Brazil, breaks the world record in the heats of the women’s 100m T11 sprints.Whitney Dosty of USA stretches to retrieve a ball during the women’s sitting volleyball semi-final with Brazil.Alessandro Rodrigo Da Silva of Brazil competing in the final of the men’s F11 shot put.A competitor’s prosthetic leg is placed by the piste during the women’s foil category B wheelchair fencing at Grand Palais.
