Videos: Team SA ready to light up 2024 Paralympic Games

Here's everything you need to know ahead of the opening ceremony next Wednesday.

3 hours ago
Ruan de Ridder 2 minutes read
Photos: Supplied/Roger Sedres.

It is seven days until the Paralympic cauldron is lit in Paris to signal the start of the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Team South Africa will have 33 athletes competing in nine sporting codes:

  • Archery: Shaun Anderson.
  • Athletics: Mpumelelo Mhlongo, Kerwin Noemdo, Puseletso Mabote, Collen Mahlalela, Khumo Pitso, Jaco Smit, Daniel du Plessis, Hermanus Blom, Erasmus Badenhorst, Claus Kempen, Paul Daniels, Simone Kruger, Sheryl James, Louzanne Coetzee, Liezel Gouws, and Yane van der Merwe.
  • Boccia: Karabo Cassius Morapedi, and Elanza Jordaan.
  • Cycling: Pieter du Preez.
  • Equestrian: Philippa Johnson-Dwyer.
  • Judo: Ndyeni Lamani.
  • Para-triathlon: Kirsty Weir.
  • Swimming: Nathan Hendricks, Christian Sadie, Alani Ferreira, Danika Vyncke, and Kat Swanepoel.
  • Wheelchair tennis: Alwande Sikhosana, Donald Ramphadi, Lucas Sithole, Kgothatso Montjane, and Mariska Venter.

Johnson-Dwyer is a two-time gold medallist in para-dressage, securing victories at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She also won two silver medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics in the same discipline. Du Preez won his first Paralympic gold medal in the H1 time trial cycling event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

South Africa’s Paralympics medals per games. Source: International Paralympic Committee.

Hendricks, Swanepoel (both swimming) and Anderson (archery) will be the first South Africans in action at the games, when their events start at 09:30 on August 29 – a day after the opening ceremony.

Here’s Team SA’s competition schedule so that you don’t miss out on the action.

 

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7 things to know:

  1. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place from August 28 to September 8
  2. Just like the 2024 Olympic Games, this year’s Paralympic opening ceremony will for the first time also be held outside a stadium. Athletes will march along the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées towards Place de la Concorde.
  3. The medals feature a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower and include engravings and Braille.
  4. The Phrygian cap, which symbolises liberty and freedom, inspired the mascot: The Paralympic Phryge.
  5. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Torch has the same design as the Olympic Games, to emphasise a unified vision.
  6. South African medallists will receive the same financial incentives as Paris 2024 Olympic athletes: R400 000 for gold (with R100 000 for the coach), R200 000 for silver (with R50 000 for the coach), and R75 000 for bronze (with R25 000 for the coach).
  7. To recognise the unique nature of the Paralympics, guides for visually impaired athletes will receive the same payouts as the coaches of those athletes who earn a medal.

A press release by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee says that these incentives apply for boccia:

  • R200 000 per athlete and R100 000 for the coach for a gold medal;
  • R100 000 per athlete and R50 000 for the coach for a silver medal;
  • R40 000 per athlete and R20 000 for the coach for a bronze medal.

Where to watch:

A partnership between the International Paralympic Committee and YouTube will ensure the most extensive coverage of the games to date.

The agreement will include live coverage of all 22 Paralympic sports and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Read original story on www.citizen.co.za

3 hours ago
Ruan de Ridder 2 minutes read
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