With one month to go until the Opening Ceremony, French Para swimming legend Beatrice Hess hopes that the Paris 2024 Paralympics will be a big “celebration of sport” and leave a lasting legacy for Para sport in her home country.

“I am happy that France is hosting the Paralympic Games for the first time,” said Hess, who has 20 Paralympic gold medals to her name, the most of any French athlete. “I hope that this will be a celebration of sport and that the Paralympic Games will have the place they deserve in the hearts and minds of the people.”

Hess, who competed at five Paralympics, is relishing the opportunity to showcase the best of Para sports to the French public when the Games open on 28 August. 

“Thanks to the media, everyone in France will be able to watch athletes compete. Everybody can witness the difference that the Games can make,” Hess said. “Everything is possible for everybody – the only barrier is the one we put on ourselves."

Leaving a legacy

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place between 28 August and 8 September, featuring 549 medal events across 22 Para sports. About 4,400 athletes from around the world will compete in some of France’s most iconic locations, including the Chateau de Versailles and the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

“The legacy of the Games is just as important as the Games,” Hess said. “For me, there should be, thanks to the Games, better access to sports for all,” she said, adding that she hopes more people in France will enjoy taking part in or watching Para sport after Paris 2024.

“The French people took time to understand the scale of the Paralympic Games, but through education and sport, ‘Paralympism’ has become commonplace,” she said. “I have always been convinced that the spirit of the Games and sharing passion, friendship among people despite their differences, are most important.”

A 40-year journey

Hess has seen the evolution of the Paralympic Games over the past 40 years. She took up Para swimming as part of her rehabilitation, but the sport became “a moment of freedom thanks to the feeling it gave me.”

She shot to stardom on her Paralympic debut at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games, earning four gold medals in as many events. From there, she was unstoppable, topping the podium 16 more times before closing the curtain on her career after Athens 2004.

The 62-year-old says she dreamed of competing in front of her family at a home Games, especially after she became a mother.

“When you are a mother and far from home to participate in the Games, it is difficult. I have to say that having the chance to participate in the Paralympic Games in front of your family, friends and supporters transcends you.”

Five Paralympics, different memories

Despite the many medals she earned across two decades, her favourite memories from the Games were not all made in the pool.

She recalls the Opening Ceremony of Seoul 1988, saying the ceremony was “full of colour and cultural depth and the arrival of Asian countries”. The eighth edition of the summer Paralympics, Seoul 1988 was the first Games held in the same venues as the Olympic Games.

At Sydney 2000, her fourth Games, she wanted to show the world what she could do by winning the 200m medley SM6 event. 

“I wanted to prove, despite preconceived ideas, to give the best of yourself and achieve what you wouldn’t have dared to dream of,” Hess said. “It is possible to change mentalities by winning without help, and it was a pleasure to feel included through sport.”

She retired after Athens 2004, where she competed after coming back from university and completing a thesis on the “Parallel of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games”. She had less time to prepare and faced tough challenges from younger athletes, but still finished with five medals.  

“The young athletes had progressed with a healthy and fair play mentality and gave their very best,” she said. “It was a source of pride to win five medals in these circumstances and put an end to my swimming career.”

Magical moment in Paris

Twenty years since Athens 2004, Hess is looking forward to more Paralympic history being made in Paris. The Opening Ceremony will be held outside a stadium for the first time, with the athletes’ parade stretching through the heart of the French capital to the iconic Place de la Concorde. 

Spriter Nantenin Keita and Para triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant are set to carry France’s flag at the Opening Ceremony. Hess, who was the flagbearer at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, shared what it means to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony.

“To be selected by your country to carry its flag gives you indescribable pride. It’s a feeling that comes from deep within you,” Hess reflected. 

“In Atlanta, I was a complete stranger who returned after my marriage and giving birth. But I experienced this moment not only as an athlete, but as a symbol of the nation. I was France.”

Avec @GabriellaPks et Béatrice Hess à Athènes, prêts pour la cérémonie de passation de la 🔥 !

Pour la suivre en direct
👉 https://t.co/3B2YCbehQ1 pic.twitter.com/ZKrk0me1B4

— Tony Estanguet - OLY (@TonyEstanguet) April 26, 2024

And with the Games approaching, the five-time Paralympian has a message for the athletes who will compete.

“Everyone has their victory with respect for others, participating is already a victory,” she said. “I wish everyone to achieve their best and with pleasure.

“Enjoy the unique, magical moment. Be proud of your victory and always keep having fun and surpass yourself.”

Get your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing page