MADRID 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the International Paralympic Committee (CPI), Andrew Parsons, hopes that they can move “in some way” to the Milano-Cortina Winter Games D’Ampazzo next year the great success that Paris 2024 was worried about preparations.
“The Paris were very successful games and I think we positioned ourselves in a very strong way as a sports movement that in addition to being high performance and being entertainment, is also a movement that wants to change the world, make it more inclusive through sport and that this is an example for all other activities,” said Parsons in an interview with Europa Press to a year after the celebration of the next winter games, whose start will be on March 6.
The Brazilian warned that they have “some aggressive objectives in terms of sale” for the Italian appointment, with the launch of “200,000 tickets” and “very cheap”, with almost “90 percent to 35 euros or less” to underpin the “strategy” that “families” come. Also at the end of March they will have a meeting with the mission leaders of each country, “a key moment because it is when contact with the National Paralympic Committees intensifies.”
But the desire is that winter games can approach the impact of last summer on the French capital. “We want Paris’s successes to also move to Milano-Cortina. Winter games are a little smaller, they interest some parts of the world more than others, but we also want them to be an inclusion accelerator here in Italy, but also throughout the world through television broadcast,” warns the leader.
Parsons knows that increasing interest in the Winter Paralympic Games “is a challenge” because summer “are already consolidated” from Beijing 2008. “With Paris we managed to have a goal that is beyond gold, silver and bronze, and we are also making the effort so that winter games can be faced in this way also, that it is a continuity for us to have a very strong event not only every four years,” he said.
And it is that another “challenge” is “how to keep this flame on” after a summer paralympic games, with the possibility of making European games that does not see “totally consolidated” as happens in other parts of the world with the Asian games or the Pan -American Games.
At the moment, in the face of Milano-Cortina d’Ampezzo, they are “happy” for how the preparations are and after the celebration of events-test, “moments to make mistakes and learn with them.” “There is no red light for which we are worried. Some sports facilities are with some fair deadlines, but in a way that it is possible to finish them and adapt them first to the Olympic Games and then to the Paralympics. Having the Olympics before is positive because we test all the facilities and gives us an advantage,” he said.
Climatology, key in a winter and always uncontrollable appointment, does not worry about Parsons because “there are always plans such as artificial snow”, although it regrets what happened in the recent world of Maribor (Slovenia) where all the tests could not be held due to the lack of snow. “It is something that always happens, especially in our games, because we are normally in March and in some parts of the world it is not so cold,” he said.
“For example, in Pyeongchang 2018 there was a day on the mountain with 26º and they said they were the Paralympic Spring Games,” he said with a smile. “Unfortunately, with global warming, it is something that we have to face more and more and we do what is within our reach to adapt. From a sustainability point of view we are very careful in our operations with our carbon footprint,” said the Brazilian.
The challenge of increasing female participation and presence
This used a very strong message in Paris 2024, the ‘Revolution of Inclusion’, in reference to the French Revolution, and are still “planning” which one can use next year. “Of course, you have to make a link with the culture of the country, we are seeing how we can get to something that makes sense for Italy and also for the world because the games are global,” he said.
“Paralympic Games exist as a platform for a more inclusive world and through what athletes do on the playing field, a more inclusive world is achieved. This address will not change, but for how we will give an Italian touch to this we must wait a few months yet,” he added.
Participation is also another aspect to improve, knowing that “winter sport may not be as advanced as summer in terms of number of athletes.” Among the reasons, its cost, because “it is many times more expensive”, or its “cultural aspect and the country’s own nature.”
The role of women is also a must because they know that they are “far” from the 50-50 that they want to Brisbane in 2032 and after a 42.5 in Paris 2024. “I think that in a few years we will see more athletes, but it is something that we must take into account and look for these women and give them the opportunity to start from the ‘semi-seicero’ to the high level,” he said.
Regarding the participation of Russia and Belarus, suspended by the invasion of Ukraine, the president recalled that he will be decided for his general assembly of “late September” and that the options are “maintaining the partial suspension, as in Paris, removing it or making it total.”
Parsons, as he made on his last visit last December to Madrid, referred to the facilities to help the cities want to bet on welcoming games. “What happened before was that, many times, the process was like a career and there is a lot of money in the candidacy. I was involved in the candidacy of Rio 2016 and it is crazy, Madrid bet several times in a row, did not win and lose interest,” he said.
“The current process is aimed at reducing costs and that the Olympic and Paralympic committees can help a little more so that the candidacies are stronger. With the competitive character before, that was not possible, because it could not be helped, for example, Madrid and not to Istanbul or Tokyo. Now work with all because they are not these careers that one competes directly with another and lost a lot of money.