Now that Paris 2024 is in the rear-view mirror, Alison Brown has had time to reflect on these epic Games. Here are her top 5 memories from covering the Paralympics.
Favorite moments from the Paris 2024 Paralympics
Paris 2024 marked my second trip to the Paralympics, though my first time to the summer edition. Unlike the Olympics, the media tribunes were not packed and I could get up close to my favorite athletes and events. Did I take full advantage of this? Absolutely!
The Paralympics were amazing in so many ways that I could not possibly pick the best or top moments, so, in no particular order, here are my favorite memories of my first Summer Paralympics:
The hits are louder when you see wheelchair rugby in person!
1. Live Wheelchair Rugby
Anyone who has listened to the podcast knows I could not wait to see wheelchair rugby in person. So on Day 1 of Paris 2024, I headed straight to Champ-de-Mars Arena. I got to see my favorite Paralympian, Chuck Aoki, and Team USA defeat Canada. Chuck even put up with my silly questions in the media mixed zone after the game.
During the next match, I sat next to an official from World Wheelchair Rugby in the media tribune. After Great Britain defeated Australia in the humdinger, he shook his head, smiled, and said, “This is going to be some tournament.”
What an understatement.
While the tournament ended in heartbreak for the Americans (and me!) Japan simply outplayed everyone else to claim the gold medal. I saw that game too, and cried, and got lost afterwards trying to get back to the train.
Let’s not focus on that. I’ll keep thinking about meeting the family of Australia’s Beau Vernon on the street after the first game. Hi Beau’s family! I told you I would mention you on the show!
A perfect day at Roland Garros–and the Paris 2024 competition also delivered!
2. Wheelchair Tennis at Roland Garros
My mom is a big tennis fan so when I was growing up, we watched a lot of tennis on television. While I sat at Court Philippe Chatrier, I texted a picture of the red clay to my mom. She responded immediately, “YES YES!”
The Paris 2024 wheelchair tennis tournament had all the big names: Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, Sam Schroder, Nils Vink, Aniek Van Koot, Kamiji Yiu, and Diede de Groot. I got to see all of them play, which gave me a great insight on the future of the sport.
It being Roland Garros, I also stained my sneakers with red clay. A perfect day all around.
Cheers to the Team USA House!
3. Visiting Team USA House
During the Paralympics, Team USA opened the doors of its hospitality house to the press for interviews. They gave me access to talk with our TKFLASTANIS Olivia Chambers and Liana Mutia After our interviews, I rode the elevator (with Oksana Masters) down to the reception floor. My contacts at Team USA made the mistake of telling me I could stay, have some food, get a drink, and enjoy the evening programs.
The building had American level air conditioning and the bartenders knew how much ice to give me for my Diet Coke. What more could I ask for?
Well, I got a selfie with my favorite wheelchair rugby player Chuck Aoki, got a chance to chat with many athlete families, picked up some exclusive pins, and enjoyed a big screen view of a Team USA relay gold in the pool. After weeks of being in Paris, it was a little slice of home with a lot more cheering.
TKFLASTANI Samantha Bosco after a track cycling race (not where she won gold).
4. Samantha Bosco wins gold
We interviewed Samantha Bosco last spring. She could not have been more fun, generous, or forthcoming. Nothing was off limits.
At Paris 2024, Jill and I managed to both get out to the velodrome to see her track races, which was exciting to see (and sweat through–the velodrome was hot inside!). While her results were disappointing on paper, Samantha was happy with them because she had other priorities.
Samantha was focused on the road race time trial. We wanted to cheer Samantha on in person, but the races were held in Clichy-sous-Bois, a distant section of Paris with absolutely zero public transportation.
Samatha raced the same day I attended wheelchair tennis. Before the first match, I checked my phone to see an Instagram post announcing Samantha’s victory. I squealed and was quickly shooshed by the fans around me. Quiet please! How can I be quiet when such a fantastic human being achieves her dream?
Matt Stutzman throwing down the gauntlet in the gold medal match.
5. Matt Stutzman triumphs
Speaking of fantastic human beings achieving dreams: Para archer Matt Stutzman came into Paris 2024 with low expectations. He had already announced his retirement and had been struggling with injuries in recent years. Matt won a silver medal at the 2012 Paralympics, but had not medalled in a Paralympics since.
I arrived at the venue in time to catch his 1/8 elimination round against Karl Forsberg from Finland, the archer who defeated Matt for the gold medal back in 2012. That match went to a one arrow shoot off, and in champion fashion, Matt hit the dead center of the target. No one was going to beat him that day. Round after round, Matt played to the crowd, kept his cool, and hit the target.
That said, it wasn’t going to be easy to get the gold. In the final match against He Zihao of China, Matt started off with a perfect end, but He matched him arrow for arrow. In the second end, Matt fell behind. By the fourth end, he was ahead by a point, but it was still anyone’s match. With the last arrow, he scored a ten, set a Paralympic record score, and claimed his first Paralympic gold.
After the match and the medal ceremony, Matt said he could not do better than he had done that night. What made it even better, he said, was he got to share it with his family.
After he left the mixed zone, he walked back on the field to take pictures with his wife, his kids, and about a dozen more family members. He really could not have done it better.