Paris 2024: Paralympic powerhouses USA aim to extend legacy
The LA 2028 hosts are embracing the opportunity to grow Para sport further ahead of their home Games 21 Aug 2024
Across the 16 previous editions of the Paralympic Games, one nation has stood out in terms of its performance – the United States of America. US athletes have won a total of 2,283 medals at the Games, including 808 golds. And Julie Dussliere, Chief of Paralympics for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), is optimistic her team will add more hardware at Paris 2024.
“As always we are looking to support our athletes on the top to achieve their best performances,” says Dussliere.
“We’ve got a great focus on team sports, we’ve got a handful of sports that are gold medallists from prior games coming in. All our team sports are very focused on podium performances, and we’re working very closely with those national federations to support them.”
Strength in depth
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the USA won medals in team sports including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and wheelchair rugby and Dussliere expects more of the same this summer; she is particularly pleased that this year’s wheelchair rugby team features a woman, Sarah Adam, for the first time.
Individual sports are Team USA’s strength though, and they continue to field some of the Paralympic Games’ best-known faces. The likes of swimmer Jessica Long, archer Matt Stutzman, cyclist Oksana Masters and wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden will again headline the team. But Dussliere points to several rising stars among the squad of around 230 athletes, such as swimmers Olivia Chambers and Ali Truwit and sprinter Jaydin Blackwell.
Preparation to succeed
The fact that Paris 2024 is rolling around just three years after Tokyo has only sharpened the focus of USA Para sports, says Dussliere.
“Our teams have embraced the shortened cycle and rolled with the change of three years instead of four. Everyone is sort of full steam ahead since Tokyo,” she explains, adding there has been a “huge focus” on key international events such as world championships and world cups, and Paris qualification events.
“We are very confident in our preparation and the work’s that been done in the last threeish years since Tokyo,” says Dussliere.
That preparation extends to making sure that when athletes arrive in Paris, they will have a place they can go and train without outside distractions. As at previous Games, the USA has created a training centre in Paris - Athletica. Some 15 kilometres from the Athletes’ Village, Athletica has training, dining, physiotherapy and sports medicine facilities as well as lodging, if someone needs a break from the Paralympic bubble.
“We’ve got some very specific things we’re looking at. We want a super high focus on performance, we want a great focus on athlete safety, and just taking care of our athletes holistically.”
Dussliere stresses Athletica is an athlete-only zone and will act as a “one-stop shop” for training and recovery before, during and after competition.
The next generation
For everyone involved in Team USA, Paris 2024 is a key step on the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
“We have a tremendous opportunity here in the US. We’ve come a long way, we’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have a lot of things we could do,” Dussliere says.
Key to Para sport’s continued growth in the USA is leveraging the extensive sports system within high schools, colleges and universities.
“Taking the opportunity to grow sports like table tennis, or wheelchair fencing, or boccia that have fairly small communities of athletes, coaches and officials, and bring some recruitment and education to the fanbase and the community, we have a great opportunity to bring some growth to sports.”
Destination Los Angeles
Dussliere also wants to use Paris 2024 as a springboard to engage people in the USA with the Paralympic Games ahead of Los Angeles.
“Getting fans excited and interested about the Paralympics is a key part of what we’re trying to do on the road to LA in terms of building awareness,” she says.
“Where the knowledge base is today versus where it was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, has significantly increased, but we still have the opportunity to grow that even more in the lead-up to LA.”
Her message to fans is simple: try something new.
“Watch the sports, learn about the sports. Any fan, whether a Paralympic fan or a sports fan in general, we all have an affinity for certain sports.
“I would encourage Paralympic fans to watch something new. I’ve found that as people who are sports fans do that, they then become a fan of the next thing or the next sport.”
