A l'UM la science [S04-ep01]: Optimizing Paralympic performance

A l'UM la science returns for a new season with Yann Beldame and Rémi Richard, sociologists at the Santé, éducation et situations de handicap (Santesih). They talk about performance and the preparation environment for para-sporters. In the second half of the program, Lorenzo Stievano takes us on a tour of the battery testing room at theICGM. A program co-produced with Divergence FM and broadcast every Wednesday at 6pm on 93.9.

75 is the number of medals, including 19 gold, won by France's 230 para-athletes at the Paralympic Games, which ended on September 8. Eight, like our place in the competition rankings. A return to the top 10 not seen since the Sydney Games in 2000. 14th place at Tokyo 2020, 12th at Rio 2016 and 16th at London 2012. A far, far cry from our 40-year-old record of fourth place at Barcelona 1992, with 36 gold medals out of a total of 106.

Is there any other explanation for this return to favour than the fervour of the French public? Over and above the stakes of visibility, what are the factors that improve the performance of para-sporters? How can sports preparation and the environment surrounding it improve performance? What are the levers of action to suggest to those involved in the Paralympic world, be they athletes themselves, their families or their staff?

These are some of the questions that a report entitled Paraperf "Optimizing Paralympic performance: from identification to medal winning" aims to answer. The report was produced as part of a call for projects launched in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. It is the fruit of collaboration between numerous partners, including two sports federations, the French Handisport Federation and the French Shooting Federation, and more than 13 research units, including the Montpellier Santesih laboratory, for Santé éducation et situation de handicap.

Sociologists Yann Beldame and Rémi Richard contributed to this report, in particular to the section entitled "The social production of Paralympic performance - Availability, Expertise, Sociability and Competition".

In the second half of the program, we take you to the CNRS site, and more specifically to the Balard chemistry cluster, where Lorenzo Steviano, a researcher at the Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier, takes us on a tour of the battery test room.

At UM la science you've got the program, here we go!

Coproduction: Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Production : Tom Chevalier

Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9


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