PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORTS NEWS
![Two young girls, one with a blindfold, holding a ball, and the other looking back, participate in an event during Olympic and Paralympic Week.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-04/SOP%20kids%20April%202023.jpg?h=f63a36b3&itok=Fjv5Xl9P)
Olympic and Paralympic Week starts in France with inclusion as main theme
Olympic and Paralympic Week aims to introduce more people to sports and shift young people's perceptions of disability
![A female Para swimmer claps her hands in the pool after finishing her race.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/Applegate%2C%20GB%20swimmer%20Tokyo%202020.jpg?h=3105b095&itok=XfCl1_nw)
World Autism Awareness Day: Star athletes to know ahead of Paris 2024
On World Autism Awareness Day, held every year on 2 April, we are celebrating four Para athletes with autism who are preparing to take the spotlight at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
![A mock-up image of a pyro show in which people standing in the formation of an Agitos sign hold up lights in the Place de la Concorde.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2022-10/Paris%202024%20Opening%20Ceremony%20%20pyro%20show.jpg?itok=BFGn0C5x)
Paris 2024 and stakeholders reaffirm commitment to Paralympic integration strategy
The Paris 2024 Board of Directors met on 30 March, at the Organising Committee’s headquarters, to receive updates on the Organising Committee’s Paralympic integration strategy, which aims to make the Games and sport a vehicle for social change
![A woman with a prosthetic leg running in a square in the middle of a group of children and adults](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/_DSC1817.jpg?itok=_CD9n-55)
Athletes and fans join World Championships 100 Days to Go celebration in Paris
French capital receives local and international guests inviting Parisians to come to Charlety Stadium in July and see the world's best in action
![A female wheelchair curler and a male wheelchair curler lift a trophy together, while showing a gold medal](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/1%20Latvia%20wheelchair%20curling%20worlds%202023.jpg?h=a699941f&itok=IcuZ80um)
Rozkova reflects on milestone at rollercoaster World Wheelchair Curling Championship
Polina Rozkova and Agris Lasmans won the mixed doubles tournament at the 2023 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in March
![A female wheelchair curler delivers a stone with a stick, while a male athlete holds the wheels of her wheelchair.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/Polina%20Rozkova%20at%20Beijing%202022.jpg?h=c0336819&itok=-yTssmPD)
Top 5 tips to get started in wheelchair curling from pioneering champion Rozkova
Latvia’s Polina Rozkova, who won the mixed doubles tournament at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in March 2023, says enjoying playing with your teammates and embracing the cold are important when taking up the sport
![A male athlete holds up an Irish flag behind him as he celebrates a victory in the athletics stadium at Tokyo 2020.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/Jason%20Smyth%20Tokyo%202020.jpg?h=96164601&itok=e1q25L2Q)
Six-time Paralympic champion Jason Smyth of Ireland retires undefeated
Irish sporting legend Jason Smyth will continue to be a positive influence on the Paralympic Movement as the new strategy manager at Paralympics Ireland
![A female swimmer with a white cap swimming backstroke](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/GettyImages-1402498464.jpg?itok=RbPDZoMe)
Manchester 2023: Great Britain names team for home Worlds
Ten world champions from Madeira 2022 included in the 28-strong squad to compete in front of the home crowd from 31 July to 6 August
![A man in a red t-shirt looks on as he sits at a table with his hands folded in front of him.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/Renato%20Muianga%20Malawi%20Mozambique.jpg?h=aedf46db&itok=PHFBzgYB)
Coach Muianga on mission to add Para powerlifting to Mozambique's sports agenda
There are currently 16 Para powerlifters in Mozambique, but Renato De Jesus Dinis Muianga is working to increase this number with the goal to get at least two athletes to the African Para Games in September 2023
![An athlete who is missing his right arm below the elbow smiles as he runs on the street during a marathon as onlookers take photos of him.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_crop_16_9_800_450/public/2023-03/Havard%20Vatnhamar%20Tokyo%202020%20Faroe.jpg?h=029b7510&itok=3WJQiGui)
Postcard from the Faroes: Vatnhamar's journey as country's only athlete at Tokyo 2020
Marathon runner Havard Vatnhamar only athlete to fly the Faroe Islands flag at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic or Olympic Games