Benjamin Daviet, Oksana Masters or Giuseppe Romele: these athletes from Para Nordic skiing who will take part in the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, they'll be no fewer than six athletes who competed in last winter's Nordic Para Ski World Cup. Here's an overview.
There will be six of them. From August 28 to September 8, no fewer than six athletes who took part in last winter's Nordic Para Ski World Cup will be taking part in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. To achieve this feat, Aaron Pike, Oksana Masters, Benjamin Daviet, Kendall Gretsch, Giuseppe Romele and Aline dos Santos Rocha had to train for weeks on end after their snow season.
The most striking example of this transition from winter Para sports is the American “Power Couple” made up of Aaron Pike and Oksana Masters. To succeed, they have competed in every Paralympic Games, summer or winter, since London 2012! At Paris 2024, they will compete in Para athletics (T54) and Para road cycling (H5) respectively. For the record, Ukrainian-born Oksana Masters is a 17-time Paralympic medalist (including 7 gold medals) and will be defending her two Para road cycling titles from Tokyo 2020 in Clichy-sous-Bois.
Another American is on the list of winter athletes taking part in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Kendall Gretsch. A four-time Paralympic champion, she began her Paralympic adventure in PyeongChang in winter 2018. In the coming days, she'll be expressing herself in Para triathlon, in the PTWC category.
They will give us chills: Oksana Masters
Aline dos Santos Rocha and Giuseppe Romele also on board
A fierce competitor to Oksana Masters and Kendall Gretsch on the snow, Brazil's Aline dos Santos Rocha will also be at the start of several races at Paris 2024: it will be in Para athletics on the Stade de France track.
Italy's Giuseppe Romele, bronze medallist in Para cross-country skiing at Beijing 2022 and an accomplished swimmer, will be making his first appearance at the Summer Paralympic Games. Lining up for the Para triathlon, which will start and finish on the Pont Alexandre III, he will be fulfilling a dream.
What if Benjamin Daviet made history?
Finally, a French champion will also have the immense pleasure of taking part in the Summer Games after shining in the winter version of the event. Benjamin Daviet, five-time Paralympic and Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing champion, has qualified for the Para rowing regattas in the mixed double sculls (with Perle Bouge). Aiming for the podium, he could become the first Frenchman to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
“It's a great motivation, of course, but I prefer not to focus on the story. I'm just concentrating on my training to help the boat progress,” he confided in our columns a few weeks ago.