As an official partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, EDF is offering a unique experience: discover three disabled sports by putting yourself in the situation of a disabled athlete.
EDF, disabled sport and the Olympics
With one year to go before the global event that is the Olympic Games, EDF wishes to emphasise the values of Olympism: excellence, friendship and respect. What better way to highlight these humanist principles than by promoting disabled sport? On Tuesday 25 July, from 10.00 am to 12.30 pm, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Handisport League will be running free workshops open to all (adults and children), with the following on the programme:
- Cecifoot (blind football with a sound ball),
- Sitting volleyball (wheelchair volleyball),
- Biathlon (blind running and laser shooting).
Disabled sport workshops and the EDF Hydrélec Museum: the perfect combination at the triathlon start site
These workshops will take place on the Grand’Maison site, a stone’s throw from the power station, where the M and L triathlons will be starting on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 July. It’s the ideal way to get to know the site (note: swimming in the Lac du Verney is prohibited outside the competitions) and discover new sports! A visit to the EDF Hydrélec museum will precede a trial of these activities, open from 10am to 12.30pm and from 1.30pm to 6pm, practised by many disabled sportsmen and women.
Through these workshops, EDF is promoting not only the Paralympic athletes who will be competing in the Paris Olympics in a year’s time, but also the values of merit and resilience, as well as the essential role of sport in “the harmonious development of mankind”, to use the official Olympic terms.
Why focus on disabled sport?
“The aim is to show the general public that you can do sport even if you have a disability,” explains Léo Loiget, regional federal adviser at the league. “Generally, participants see these activities as a game at first, but they soon realise that it’s difficult and that you really have to train to succeed. Stepping into the shoes of a disabled athlete highlights the absolute necessity of adapting sporting activities to different disabilities, and underlines the remarkable physical and mental capacities of Paralympic athletes.”
It’s a great lesson in humility for everyone, and an invitation to experience the Alpe d’Huez Triathlon in a different way!