Paris 2024: Storey and Masters reflect on Paralympic honour and legacy

Team GB’s Sarah Storey has already won 17 Paralympic gold medals across three disciplines, more than anyone else, but the hunt for her 18th could be the most special yet.

It is the first time her six-year-old son, Charlie, will be able to watch. The pain of leaving him behind to compete in Tokyo is a distant memory.

Now she has the opportunity to share the experience with him, as she competes in the women’s C5 individual time trial and C4-5 road race at Paris 2024.

“It's the first time that my little boy will be able to remember the Games,” she said.

“He's now six years old, and I had to leave him for three weeks to do the Games in Tokyo when he was only three.

"When I got back from those Games, he said, ‘Mum, I really want to go to Paris and watch your race’."

Inspiring youngsters

There are similar feelings of pride for Team USA’s Oksana Masters, who was selected as a torchbearer as part of the Opening Ceremony, which she says is her “biggest honour”.

"I carried the torch alongside two other international athletes right before it (the Paralympic flame) was lit,” she said, as she prepares to defend gold medals in the H5 individual time trials and road race.

“That was the biggest, biggest honour, because that was actually my first Opening Ceremony.

"Being able to be part of the torch relay and carrying it to the last stage was absolutely incredible. I never saw that moment coming.

"It just makes me feel so lucky and humbled to be a part of something so powerful. Carrying that torch, igniting it for the next generation of young girls and young Para athletes."

More work to do for disability acceptance

Storey has a new sort of pressure to cope with as she chases more unprecedented success. She began her Paralympic journey aged just 14 at Barcelona 1992 in the pool, competing in Para swimming until Athens 12 years later, before a change of focus to cycling.

Now 46, she is able to reflect on the Paralympics and their legacy, and hopes it can continue to make a difference to society, taking inspiration from past Games, with evidence of much work still needing to be done.

“The sporting legacy is really important to make sure that young children can see who they can look up to and how they can get into the clubs and from the grassroots of sport.

“We've benefited from that in the UK since London (2012), without a doubt, you can see that from the team that's performing here.

“The part of the legacy that is really challenging is the legacy for society, the legacy for accessibility, for disabled people and how they can access their very best performance in whichever part of life they exist.

“So whether that's a job in society, whether that's accessing buildings, public transport, we really struggle with that in the UK. It was well-documented last week that Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson had to crawl off a train on her way to the Paralympics. That's the challenge for any city that's trying to look at a legacy.

“I think back to Beijing (2008). I was fortunate to visit Beijing the year after the Games and the sporting legacy there was really impressive.”

Fight for glory

China’s Li Zhangyu has already enjoyed a stellar Paris 2024 campaign with two track cycling golds, also breaking the men’s C1 3000m individual pursuit world record.

“Before the Games, I thought of breaking the record, but I didn't expect that I could break the record by such a large margin,” he said.

“I was honoured to win the first gold medal for China (in track cycling at Paris 2024). I hope my gold medals will inspire more Para athletes to strive for excellence.”

Dutchman Mitch Valize admits pressure will be different in Paris as he looks to defend his H5 individual time trial and road race titles, but he is relishing it.

“In Tokyo, I was the underdog. I became world champion two months before Tokyo, which got me the last spot in the national team for Tokyo.

“Now I'm the big favourite. That’s completely different. But I think it’s a role that suits me. I can deal with the pressure.”