ENGSO and ENGSO Youth at Paralympics
The Paris 2024 Paralympics, which opened on 28 August 2024, welcomed more than 4,000 athletes from around the world who competed in 22 different sports and 549 medal events.
While the games ended on 8 September 2024, the work of our two Young Delegates Marie Halna and Marie Lou Noirot extended beyond that; Marie Halna was there as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative based in the Athletes Village while Marie Lou Noirot worked as the Workforce Manager of the Olympic and Paralympic village for Paris 2024 staff.
Marie Lou shared about her experience: “The Paralympic brought me to the real spirit of the games. Athletes and delegations, whatever happens they are here, fight for the best. The spirit in the village was about sharing, smiling and happiness was all over the place. My favourite part was when the athletes came back with or without medals but enjoyed staying in the village and sharing experiences.”
Marie Halna highlighted her favourite part of Paralympics: “Being based full time in the Athletes’ Village, my favourite part of the Games was to be there with the athletes, and for the athletes. My work at IPC is to drive engagement with our members worldwide, from grassroot development programs to elite sports. Serving our members all year long to then seeing all the athletes gathered in my home country felt amazing. I am extremely proud to belong to the Paralympic Family, surrounding myself with a community committed to make society better in and through sport. ‘Till next time.”
Photo: The photo shows me celebrating with the athletes our 1 Million subscribers on our IPC YouTube channel. I am proud that these Games are making a significant impact on society’s perception on sport and inclusion through social media. Vive les Paralympiques!
Besides our two Young Delegates, ENGSO Youth Alumni Club member Sofie Korbee and Zane Skujina-Rubene, ENGSO Vice Chair Filipa Godinho and ENGSO ExCom member Theo Neyenhuis were present there as well.
Filipa Godinho attended both, Paralympics and Olympics, in her role as pro-dean of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She was there to support the students from the University who competed in both events.
“The atmosphere at the Paralympic Games is truly unique. I went to support the athletes and, as always, I received inspiration and a lesson in perseverance,” highlighted Filipa Godinho.
ENGSO ExCom member and EU Advisory Committee Chair Theo Neyenhuis was present at the TeamNL House, on behalf of NOC*NSF. “I have been working in and around the TeamNL House. This house was our first fan house during the Paralympics, and was just one of a few fan houses in Paris. In this house fans, athletes and their families could gather and celebrate the successes,” Theo explained his role at Paralympics.
His role was to organise two events: the first one together with two ministries and the umbrella organisations for employers in The Netherlands about inclusive labour market “How can we make sure that we do not just cheer for para athletes during the game, but that we also make sure that we can use their talents (and that of others with impairments) in regular jobs”. The second one was a networking event with Dutch administrators, (municipal, regional and national), focused on inclusive and accessible sports (financial, social and physical accessibility).
Besides that he also attended events from the European Paralympic Committee, SportInnovator (Sports4all Summit) and Erasmus University Rotterdam (symposium Impact – Inclusion – Integrity in & via sport).
ENGSO Youth congratulates to all athletes on their incredible performances and reminds everyone to keep #BeActive mode within September, especially during the European Week of Sport, and beyond that – during everyday life.