Paris 2024: Home Games even sweeter for Para triathlon champion Hanquinquant

For most athletes, Tokyo 2020 – delayed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic – was a Paralympic Games like no other. For Alexis Hanquinquant, it was ‘normal’. 

“They were my very first Games so they will stay with me forever,” the French athlete said. “Para triathlon was one of the only events to have an audience because we are an outdoor sport – there is no ticket office so we had a lot of people on the courses, so we had ‘a vibe’.

It helped, of course, that Hanquinquant took gold in the men’s PTS4 class on his Paralympic debut. 

“It was magnificent,” he admitted. “There was a lot of pressure in that race – I was expected to win and I won. They can never take that away from me, and for this reason it will be forever engraved in my memory.”

Proving a point

A mason by trade, the Normandy native eventually took the decision to have his tibia – leg below the knee – amputated in September 2013 after it was crushed by a piece of construction machinery at work in 2010.

“Very quickly I wanted to challenge myself because I wanted to prove to myself and to people that losing a leg was not a big deal,” Hanquinquant, who was a talented basketball player and combat sport competitor before his accident, said. 

“And as I've always been a lover of sport and surpassing myself, I gravitated towards triathlon. [Of the three disciplines], swimming was the least known to me because I never really did it. I had a good disposition for cycling and running, so I got into those sports very quickly, and I realised that I was quite aquatic too. Today, I'm quite complete in all three – that’s my strength.”

Getting to that point was far from straightforward, though. Before he could contemplate becoming a top-level athlete, Hanquinquant had to overcome challenges: the healing of his residual limb, including significant scar tissue; and finding the right prostheses to compete in.

“That was quite complicated,” he said. “Then the trickiest thing is to reach the required sporting level because at some point you will have to move. Being at the top level requires a lot of sacrifices. It’s not easy, but when you get there it’s pretty cool.”

While success came quickly for Hanquinquant, he had to wait longer than most to take his Paralympic bow.

He finished seventh in his first ITU (International Triathlon Union] event in Strathclyde, Scotland in June 2016 then followed that up with victory in the open class at the 2016 Para Triathlon World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, a month later. But both came too late in the qualification process for Rio 2016.

Undeterred, he spent the next five years racking up the victories – 39 and counting in his career so far. Nevertheless, having to wait until he was 35 years old to compete on the biggest stage of all made victory even sweeter. 

“When I crossed the line in Tokyo, it was a mixture of so many emotions,” he said. “A feeling of ‘finally!’ mixed with joy as a result of all the hard work, all the sacrifices I’ve made to get to that point.

“It takes a lot of physical and mental qualities to be a Paralympic champion. You also need a good entourage and I’m lucky enough to have a family, my wife and [two] children who give me a lot of love, which pushes me to always go further. When you have that, it’s a really good base.

“It’s a pain, but it’s worth it for the medal at the end. I’m very patriotic, very proud to represent my country. So, when you stand on the top step of the podium and hear the Marseillaise, it’s incredible in terms of emotion.”

Going for gold and more

Hailing from a small town just two hours or so north-west of Paris by car, the magnitude of competing in a home Games is not lost on Hanquinquant. 

“Of course, it’s amazing – I can’t wait,” he said. “I can only imagine how lucky I am to be able to compete at these Games at home. A lot of athletes, unfortunately, won’t have that chance, so just to be able to do that… I’m very, very happy.

“I had an exceptional experience in Tokyo but because there was this Covid environment, I didn’t know a ‘normal’ Games, so I’m looking forward to discovering it in Paris this summer.”

However, it’s fair to say that Hanquinquant is not going to be there just for the party atmosphere. 

“I can't hide it, it's about it's about retaining my gold medal,” he said. “I've been unbeaten at the international level for a few years now, but I have a lot of respect for my opponents, I know they will be coming for me. It’s a daunting task but I’m going to be ready. There are a lot of people counting on me and, as a priority, I don’t want to disappoint my family. I’m going for the gold and that’s it. After all, it’s sport.”

But, he admits, it’s about more than just sport: “I think we have a unique opportunity to change the way we look at Para sport in an incredible way in our society, by the French athletes’ performance in front of all those eyes. I think the people are going to be blown away. I think that the legacy of Paris would be that – to talk about difference, not disability.

“I would like to send a message of hope that I am an example that, in life, everything is possible. One day I dreamed that I would be Paralympic triathlon champion. Not many people believed in it, but I succeeded. Of course, it won't just be Paralympic champions, the idea is, if you have dreams, even if they seem crazy, believe in them, do everything you can to make them come true.”

Discover more about Para triathlon and the 22 sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme 

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website