Three weeks before the World Para Athletics Championships open in New Delhi, dozens of stars from France's Paralympics movement gathered just outside Paris to celebrate the success of the 2024 Games – an event athletes say marked a turning point in how their sports are perceived.
"I think we had this complex in France – I certainly did and many other athletes with disabilities did too," said Jean-Christophe Rambeau, one of the leading lights in France's sitting volleyball team that made its debut at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Moments after addressing early-morning visitors to the French Paralympic Committee's third annual Paralympic Day last weekend, he explained: "Before the Games, we were seen more as people with disabilities.
"And thanks to the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, French society realised that we were actually athletes. And that's really what struck me the most about these Games, the way people looked at us by the time we got to the closing ceremony."
France raked in 75 medals, 19 of them gold, during the 11-day extravaganza – its best haul at the Paralympics since the 86 prizes harvested at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney.
Though Rambeau's team finished without a victory in its four matches, he said he was still hailed in the streets for his efforts.
"People stop me and say: 'I saw you on the TV,'" he beamed as he surveyed the burgeoning throng of para athletes and public moving around the Communale venue in Saint-Ouen, one of the suburbs north of Paris that helped host the 2024 Games.
"I realise that with this experience of the Paralympic Games, we have become a bit like ambassadors," added Rambeau.
"We've become role models. And that's something that I would really like to push... to effectively democratise disability."
The 43-year-old added: "We need to normalise it so that people with disabilities come to a place like La Communale and try lots of sports and for them to be seen as fully fledged athletes and no longer different because they have a disability."
Budget cuts
That shift, however, could be set back as France cuts back on its sports spending in a bid to rein in public debt.
In January, then Prime Minister François Bayrou announced that the sport budget would be slashed from €1.7 billion to €1.4 billion as part of broader cutbacks in public spending.
A petition signed by 400 leading athletes hit out at the plans. In a statement to sports newspaper L'Equipe, President Emmanuel Macron said that he agreed with the athletes.
"Since 2017, I have ensured that the sports budget has increased every year," he said. "We must keep our commitments and provide the necessary resources for our athletes so that the legacy of the Games benefits everyone."
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In June, the government came under further attack when it announced changes to the Pass Sport scheme, established in 2021 under Macron's aegis to help children from low-income families join sports clubs.
Nearly 1.7 million youngsters between six and 17 were benefitting from the €50 payment when Sports Minister Marie Barsacq outlined the amendments.
Under the new system, which is set to come into effect this month, the payout will be upped to €70 – but limited to young people who already qualify for certain other types of income support.
'No going back'
"Obviously, without money, you can't do much," commented Rambeau. "That's for sure. But I think that thanks to the Games, there will be no going back.
"In fact, French society, France itself, has taken a new look at disability and we are on the right track, even if there are still obstacles, such as budget restrictions."
In another corner of La Communale dedicated to para archery, Vincent Hybois, who trains the archers in the national team, agreed.
He recounted how he was sized up and down as a teenager when his disabled parents introduced him as their son.
"The person stared at me for what seemed like ages trying to look for my disabilities," he recalled.
"Things have changed from that point of view and so has the amount of money coming into the sport."
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Visible and accessible
Hybois, whose mother, Marie-Francoise, won bronze in para archery at the 1980 and 1996 Paralympic Games, added: "When she went to her first Paralympics in 1980, she had to pay for her own tracksuit top if she wanted it as a souvenir.
"By the time she finished at the Sydney Games, the tracksuits were being given out for free.
"Of course we always want and need more money... but there have been some advances."
After testing her skills at para badminton and boccia alongside Barsacq, French Paralympic Committee president Marie-Amélie Le Fur hailed the 15 federations who had sent coaches and advisors.
"Paralympic Day illustrates our commitment to making sport accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or disability," Le Fur said.
"With the mobilisation of those involved in sport, we reaffirm that parasport must be visible, inclusive and open."
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No 'ghettoising'
At the end of the month, Le Fur's executives will unveil a study on the impact of the French Paralympic Committee's push for sports clubs to be more accessible to people with disabilities.
"I'm all in favour of open clubs or clubs where we mix Paralympics and Olympics," said Cécile Hernandez, who won gold in the snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
"Sport is something that should break down all barriers," added the 51-year-old, who said she aims to compete at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina.
"I'm in favour of diversity and I'm not in favour of ghettoising Paralympics.
"In a way, the more we welcome Paralympic sport into a mixed structure, the better it will be for everyone."
