5 Storylines To Watch At The 2024 Paralympics

2024 SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES

• August 28 – September 8, 2024
  • Swimming: August 29 – September 7, 2024
• La Défense Arena – Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
• How To Watch

The 2024 Paralympic Games are almost here; the Paralympic flame has been lit, and we’re only days away from the Paralympic swimmers hitting the water in La Défense Arena. With 141 events taking place over the ten-day competition, there are many different storylines to follow at this meet, but here are five of the biggest ones on our minds in the lead-up to the start of the competition.

• Related: 10 Male Swimmers To Watch At The 2024 Paralympics

The French Crowd Factor

After the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics could not host fans, it was exhilarating to hear the roar of the crowd at La Défense Arena. The fans played an important role throughout the nine days of action at the Olympics, bringing energy to each session, which swimmers of all nationalities commented on.

But understandably, the crowd was at its loudest for the French athletes. If you were watching on television, you didn’t even have to look at the screen to know when a French swimmer was on deck—the crowd let you know. The home crowd had a lot to cheer about, as French swimmers like Leon Marchand and Florent Manaudou had exceptional meets, using the crowd’s energy while they swam.

The crowd should also be a huge boost for the French Para swimmers when they hit the water next week. The host nation has a roster of 14 swimmers, including Élodie Lorandi, who owns five Paralympic medals including a gold from 2012. Swimmers like Laurent Chardard and Emeline Pierre hope to follow up on medals from the 2022 and 2023 Worlds by standing on the Paralympic podium for the first time. Then, there are names Alex Portal (1 silver, 1 bronze) and Ugo Didier (1 silver, 1 bronze) who medalled in Tokyo and aim to complete their medal sets with gold in front of a home nation crowd.

World Record Watch

The Paralympic Games are undoubtedly the biggest stage in para swimming, but that hasn’t stopped athletes from going fast in-season. 42 world records have already been broken this year, highlighted by 16 going down at the four-day Berlin edition of the CITI Para Swimming series in June. This much speed early in the season could signal a potential flood of world records in Paris.

The 200 IM is the event with the most world records broken this year as seven swimmers have broken their classification’s mark. Germany’s Alexander Topf (SM2), Australia’s Timothy Hodge (SM9), the Netherlands’ Rogier Dorsman (SM11), and Canada’s Nicholas Bennett (SM14) were the men who broke the world records. Gina Boettcher (SM2), Maisie Summers-Newton (SM4), and Daria Lukianenko (SM11) took down the world records on the women’s side.

But events like the men’s 100 freestyle and 50 breaststroke have had three men reset world records this season. In Berlin, all three men’s 50 breaststroke world records were swum in the same final, as Nelson Crispin Corzo (SB6), Carlos Serrano Zarate (SB7), and Taliso Engel (SB13) each lowered their classification’s world record, swimming 34.95, 31.96, and 28.54, respectively.

Debutants Look To Make An Impression

Even in a shortened Paralympic cycle, there have been a handful of new stars that emerged at the 2022 and 2023 Para Swimming World Championships and are about to make their Paralympic debuts.

Swimmers like Alexander Hillhouse (Denmark), Alexa Leary (Australia), William Ellard (Great Britain), and Olivia Chambers (United States) have already written their names into the world record books. Chambers set her 1500 free S13 record (17:53.84) in 2023, while Hillhouse, Leary, and Ellard have all set marks this year.

After setting three world records at 2023 Worlds, Hillhouse, the only man swimming at the Paralympics for Denmark, took down both the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly S14 world records this year. Ellard broke the 100 free S14 record, then equaled the 200 free S14 mark. Leary, a triathlete turned para swimmer, broke the 100 free S9 world record in April.

Other debutants to keep an eye on are swimmers like Poppy Maskill and Noah Jaffe, who both won gold at 2023 Worlds.

Will China’s Medal Table Streak Continue?

China has won the medal table at the last three Paralympic Games—by both golds and total medals. They started their reign in London and dominated at the Rio Games, winning 92 medals—37 of them gold—across the 152 events on offer at the pool.

They came back down to earth a bit in Tokyo, where they won 56 medals and beat the Russian Paralympic Committee 19 golds to 17. Liu Yu, Lu Dong, Ma Jia, and Zheng Tao all won multiple gold medals in Tokyo, and China brings another strong squad to Paris.

With Russia and Belarus banned from the Games, the nations with the best chance of upsetting China are Ukraine, Australia, and the USA, as they all have finished top five in the medal table during China’s streak. Great Britain—which finished third in 2016—brings a star-studded roster to Paris. Italy, led by Simone Barlaam, looks strong as well; without China or Russia in attendance, they won the medal table at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. In April, they held off Ukraine and retained their crown as European champions.

Another factor in the medal table race is that there are 141 events on the schedule in Paris, five fewer than at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Paralympic Medalists Return To The Games After Injury

Big names like Alice Tai, Tess Routliffe, and Morgan Stickney return to the Paralympics after dealing with injuries in the last four years. Tai and Routliffe, who both medalled at the 2016 Paralympics, missed the Tokyo Games entirely due to their injuries.

Tai, who was born with bilateral talipes, had her right leg amputated below the knee in January 2022 after the pain in her foot increased, which was the reason she missed the Tokyo Paralympics. Routliffe, the silver medalist in the 200 medley SB7 from Rio, missed because she broke her spine during weight training. They made their return to international competition at the 2022 World Championships, where they both came away with medals. They earned more medals at 2023 Worlds, and look strong as they get ready to be back in action on the Paralympic stage for the first time since 2016.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Paralympics were Stickney’s international debut. She won two golds, first beating her teammate Jessica Long in the 400 free S8 then teaming up with her, Hannah Aspen, and Mikaela Jenkins to win the 4×100 medley relay 34 points.

After Tokyo, Stickney dealt with medical complications and is now racing in the S7 classification. She won gold in the 100 and 400 freestyle S7 at the 2023 Worlds, crushing the world record in the latter. She reset that world record mark at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Trials, taking almost another three seconds off the mark in 4:51.50 and setting herself up well for another successful Paralympics.