The 2024 Paralympic Games is taking place in Paris, France.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will inspire a generation of young and newly disabled people to take up a sport or physical activity. WheelPower provides support and opportunities for disabled people to get into sport and lead active lives.
The Paralympics will take place from 28 August to 8 September 2024.
As many as 4,400 athletes will compete in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. There will be 549 events across 22 sports hosted at 19 different venues. Find the full schedule here
We provide many ways to help you get active, from 'at home' exercise classes, on line video resources to 'in person' events like our sports festivals. Many of our events are available to young and old, are often free and come with full kit and coaching provided.
FIND OUT MOREOver 200 athletes are expected to compete as part of the ParalympicsGB team in Paris.
Britain’s first Paralympic gold was won at the 1960 Rome Games by Margaret Maughan who was competing in the Women’s Columbia round open archery event, scoring 484 points. Her feat was recognised when Maughan was chosen to light the Paralympic Cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Margaret was inducted to the Stoke Mandeville Hall of Fame in 2014. Margaret’s medal in on display at the National Paralympic Heritage Centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.
Britain’s most successful Paralympian is Dame Sarah Joanne Storey DBE. Her total of 28 Paralympic medals in swimming and cycling including 17 gold medals makes her the most successful British Paralympian of all time.
A number of athletes in the British team will have attended the WheelPower Inter Spinal Unit Games during their spinal cord injury rehabilitation, or attended the WheelPower National Junior Games or a WheelPower Sports Festival. Some have received sports equipment to help them compete or have trained or competed at Stoke Mandeville Stadium which is owned by WheelPower.
Event: Men’s singles and Men’s Doubles
Paralympic Debut: Rio 2016
Alfie attended the 2009 National Junior Games where he had the opportunity to try his hand at lots of different sports. During the week of sport and activity he helped his basketball team to win first prize, and finished runner up in the table tennis! A few years later Alfie had found that wheelchair tennis was for him and in 2013 he was one a recipient of a brand new chair from the WheelPower’s Wheel Appeal which was funded by Rotary.
Newly crowned Wimbledon men’s singles champion and world No. 1 in both singles and doubles will compete in the singles and doubles in Paris.
Alfie has won nine grand slam singles titles and an astonishing 21 grand slam doubles titles alongside Gordon Reid as well as three silver Paralympic Medals.
Event: T53 100m, 400m and 800m
Paralympic debut: Rio 2016
Samantha (Sammi) attended the Inter Spinal Unit Games 2011 and the following year took part in the NJWCG 2012 at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.
Sammi will be aiming to build on the success of Tokyo 2020, where she reached the podium on two occasions: silver in the 400m T53 and bronze in the 100m T53. This was followed by a gold and two silver medals at the 2023 World Championship in Paris.
She will compete in three events in Paris – the 100m, 400m and 800m T53.
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FIND OUT MORE AND DOWN LOAD RESOURCESEvent: Marathon
Paralympic debut: Atlanta 1996
As a junior Weir took part in WheelPower’s junior sport programme, and regularly attended events at Stoke Mandeville Stadium whilst developing his talents for wheelchair racing. David made his Paralympic debut in Atlanta 1996 at the age of just 17. At London 2012 cheered on by the home crowd David won four gold medals, in the T54 800m, 1500m, 5000m and marathon. David will be competing is the Marathon in Paris.
In 2014 David was inducted into the Stoke Mandeville Hall of Fame by Sophie, Countess of Wessex. To this day, David regularly returns to Stoke Mandeville Stadium for athletics Grand Prix events and was honored to see his name on the wall alongside Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann at the very place that the Paralympic Movement was born.
Event: T34 100m and 800m
Paralympic Debut: Rio 2016
The Coventry athlete is a five-time Olympic medallist and hopes to complete the set this summer with gold in Paris having won two silver and three bronze medals across Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Kare, who is coached by Job King will compete in the T34 100m and 800m.
Event: PR1 Men’s single
Paralympic Debut: Tokyo 2020
A former cyclist and triathlete, Benjamin became paralysed from the waist down after a cycling crash in September 2016. Ben was a patient at the NSIC at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and a familiar face at weekly sports and sessions delivered by WheelPower Physical Activity Advisors Ian & Bob. In 2018 Ben attended the Inter Spinal Unit Games alongside his team from the nearby unit. During the week of activity Ben tried multiple sports and took home the medal in swimming. After leaving Stoke Mandeville Ben discovered rowing, joining the para development squad in 2017.
Benjamin Pritchard came fifth at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Since then, he has developed into a consistent medallist, winning two World Championship bronze medals across 2022 and 2023. Last month, at the final race before Paris 2024, Pritchard won his first career gold medal at the World Rowing Cup in Poland.
Outside of rowing, Benjamin is gaining work experience in two areas he is passionate about – coffee and BBC local radio. He is married to Meg and is father to Efa.
Ben will be competing in the PR1 Men’s single in Paris.
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FIND OUT MOREEvent: Pistol
Paralympic Debut: Rio 2016
Following a car accident Issy spent seven months in hospital before being transferred to the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Issy was introduced to wheelchair sport through weekly sessions with WheelPower Physical Activity Advisors and also attended the 2014 Inter Spinal Unit Games. During this time she discovered she had a natural talent for target shooting, despite never having shot before and here began her career in the sport.
Paris 2024 will be Issy Bailey’s third consecutive Paralympic Games from making her debut in the sport at Rio 2016. Issy is the sole member of the team competing in the pistol events.
Event: Wheelchair Basketball
Paralympic Debut: Rio 2016
Ben attended multiple WheelPower National Junior Games and Junior Sports Camps at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in the 2010’s.
Ben made his debut appearance for GB’s senior team at the 2019 European Championships in Poland, winning European gold. Ben was part of the GB Men’s team that achieved silver at the 2022 World Championships
Event: T54 400, 600m and 1500m
Paralympic Debut: Tokyo 2020
After her accident Melanie was supported by a WheelPower Activity Advisor at the Queen Elizabeth Spinal Unit, Glasgow. She attended the 2019 Inter Spinal Unit Games (pictured) and in 2020 received Wheelwrights/Wernick Group Funding from WheelPower to help her to purchase some new carbon fibre wheels for her racing chair.
Melanie, who is coached by Rodger Harkins, will compete in three events in Paris, the T54 400, 600m and 1500m. It is Melanie’s second Paralympics after having also competed in Tokyo.
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On the 29 July 1948, the day the Olympic Games opened in London, Dr Ludwig Guttmann organised the Stoke Mandeville Games on the lawns of Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Two teams of former servicemen and women who had spinal cord injuries competed in wheelchair archery as part of their rehabilitation programme.
The Games continued and in 1952, the first international Games took place when a team of athletes from the Netherlands travelled to the UK. In 1960, over 400 athletes travelled to Rome, Italy to take part in what would become known as the first Paralympic Games.
Since then they have grown in size and scope, with athletes from around the world competing in a wide range of sports. Today, the Paralympic Games are recognized as one of the world’s largest sporting events and an important platform for promoting disability rights and inclusion.
Want to know more? Visit the National Paralympic Heritage Trust website
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Based at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, we have been providing opportunities for physically disabled people to move more, play sort and lead active lives for over 70 years.
