Multiple Paralympics gold medalist Tanni Grey-Thompson was forced to drag herself unaided off a train in London – only hours after telling CGTN she hoped the 2024 Games would lead to a long-lasting legacy of accessibility for people with disabilities.
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00:0012 separate Paralympic flames are on their journey across France and will unite to light up Paris in two days.
00:15The flame arrived in the country on Sunday, carried by British athletes through the Channel Tunnel,
00:20and was passed on to French athletes at the Midway Point.
00:24The torch was lit in Stoke Mandeville in England, the birthplace of the Paralympic movement.
00:30Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of Britain's greatest Paralympic athletes,
00:34the winner of 11 golds, 4 silvers and a bronze, I think I've got that right,
00:38and now these days appear in the UK's House of Lords.
00:41You're a living legend, welcome, lovely to see you.
00:44These days you're a commentator, do you miss it?
00:47Do you think, I wish I was still there on the track?
00:52For about three seconds when the athletes come out,
00:54and then I very quickly remember that training 15 times a week, 50 weeks a year is quite hard.
00:59I mean, competing is great, the training is a bit dull and boring,
01:02so I'm very privileged to sit on the finish line and talk about my sport now.
01:07I mean, that's what you do.
01:08How have the Games evolved over these years, since you first started competing?
01:13We now think of them as mainstream, part of the furniture,
01:17but I'm guessing it wasn't always so.
01:21No, it wasn't. So my first Games was Seoul in 88,
01:24where there was very little coverage in the UK,
01:27and with each cycle they've grown and developed,
01:30and now they sit very much alongside the Olympics.
01:33And I think what's very exciting about Paris was that we had Paralympians
01:37as part of the final relay for the lighting of the torch,
01:41and Paris has really laid down a mark that they want,
01:44you know, to really push the Games to the highest bar they possibly can.
01:49How does an Olympic host city like Paris transform itself
01:53in the space of a few weeks into a Paralympic city?
01:58I think what's happened with the last few cycles is that, you know,
02:02they're looking at both Games, you know, years ahead.
02:05I think, you know, the Beijing Games in 2008,
02:09they were planning access way before the start of the Olympics,
02:13and, you know, London learnt from that, and each Games has done that as well.
02:18So what you want is to have as little transition between Games as possible.
02:22And Paris is an old city, you know, access is not particularly easy,
02:27but, you know, the legacy of the Games, which we all talk about now,
02:30goes beyond a couple of weeks after the Games.
02:33You know, Paris can keep changing itself
02:35and looking forward for years and years after the Games,
02:38like other cities have done.
02:40You've been a doughty campaigner for disabled people.
02:43I wonder, has the world stage for the Paralympics
02:47improved life for disabled people,
02:50or are the obstacles still there,
02:52pretty much unchanged after all of these years
02:55and when the light goes out on the Paralympics?
03:00Yeah, there still are a lot of challenges,
03:02and the International Paralympic Committee is very keen
03:05that they use the power of the Games
03:07to nudge and change opinions around disability.
03:11And there was a big campaign after Tokyo, which was called We the 15.
03:15You know, 15% of the world's population has some form of disability.
03:19So the Paralympics can't do it all,
03:23but, you know, all the Prime Ministers and the Presidents
03:26from all the countries around the world will be there for the Games.
03:29If they're inspired by it, we need them to go back to their own countries
03:32and keep, you know, changing how disabled people are treated.
03:37What should we look out for in Paris?
03:39Who are the big names that we should keep an eye on?
03:43Oh, there are so many.
03:45You know, from a British point of view, it's Sarah Storey, David Weir.
03:50You know, China is going to be pretty much impossible to beat.
03:54They've topped the medal table since Athens.
03:57But France and the USA are coming through very strongly.
04:00So I think these will be the most competitive Games yet,
04:03and they'll be brilliant sport every single day.
04:07This will be the most amazing platform for the Paralympics.
04:11What should the legacy of Paris be?
04:16Well, for so much of the time,
04:18we talk about the legacy as an increase in participation.
04:21And there is a spike, and then when young people realise
04:24it's quite hard to be an Olympian or a Paralympian,
04:26they go off and do other things.
04:28Obviously, some stick through that.
04:30But for me, the legacy is greater than that.
04:32It is about accessibility in the city.
04:34It's about changing attitudes towards disabled people.
04:37It's about thinking how you can use the Games
04:40to put those cities on the world map.
04:43So it's not just about Games time or the couple of weeks after.
04:47Even now, London still is looking at how it uses the venues from 2012,
04:52thinking about how you put sports events on.
04:55Nelson Mandela said sport has the power to change the world,
04:58and it absolutely does.
05:00But it doesn't happen without a huge amount of people
05:03and a lot of time and effort, and some money.
05:06Tanni, loved it to talk to you. Enjoy the Games,
05:08and thanks so much for coming on the programme.
05:10Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson.