PARIS (WCMH) — After Paris 2024, the Paralympics have seen a major boost in momentum from fans.
Since their start in 1960, the Paralympics have grown every four years. In this year’s Games, over two million Paralympic tickets were sold.
“Paris to me has really re-ignited the Olympic and Paralympic spirit,” four-time Paralympian Chuck Aoki said. “The energy. The life behind the movement. I think it’s kickstarted us toward a journey to LA that’s gonna be spectacular.”
Coverage has also been high for this year’s Paralympics, with more events televised than ever before. These changes are also spurring increased awareness for adaptive sports at large.
“It’s huge because I think that this coverage and everything is going to reach other people that are sitting at home and thinking ‘I don’t know what to do with my life,'” first-time Paralympian Jason Tabansky said. “Now, they’re going to see people with all kinds of disabilities with all kinds of abilities that they might identify with and they’re going to seek out that sport.”
Paralympian Roderick Townsend brought home his third high jump gold medal this week. He said the increased energy from crowd makes the atmosphere all the better for Paralympian performance.
“The lights can never be too bright. The crowd can never be too loud,” Townsend said. “And we got every bit of that and I enjoyed and savored every bit of that. And I am just so happy so many of us Paralympic athletes got to experience that for the first time.”
The energy of the Paris Games already has many looking forward to L.A. 2028.
“We’re seeing the momentum build and I think that’s the exciting part as we look forward to L.A. ’28 of what that means for the Paralympic movement in the United States, and the disability community in the United States because sports truly is that conduit,” four-time Paralympian Mallory Weggeman said.