Paris 2024 Paralympics | They will give us chills: Simone Barlaam
If you're looking for the Italian version of joie de vivre, Simone Barlaam is your man. The 24-year-old native of Milan says loud and clear that his main reason for coming to Paris 2024 is to have fun!
Firstly, because despite his young age, he has already built up a considerable list of achievements: 4 Paralympic medals, including a gold in the 50m freestyle at the Tokyo Games, and 18 gold medals at the various world championships he has taken part in, including the world record in his category (S9) in the 50m freestyle: 23''96, the first in his category to go under 24 seconds.
Secondly, because for him it's also a return to his roots: as a child, he spent months in the French capital, or should we say in its hospitals, undergoing several operations related to his disability, and returning to Paris, this city that he has learnt to love, will be like coming full circle in his life. But that won't stop him from aiming for one or more medals, if possible in gold, of course, because his joie de vivre shines in the water, where he feels so free, so light, almost ethereal, and the competition motivates and transcends him.
First objective: to have fun
"In Tokyo, I didn't enjoy the Paralympic experience as much as I should have. I didn't enjoy myself, and I didn't achieve the performances I was expecting and hoping for. In Paris, with the public there, my friends and my family, my main objective will be to enjoy myself. If I can do that, the results will follow".
And Simone has no intention of stopping there: after Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, he already has the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games ticked off his agenda. "I hope Paris won't be my last Games! It's a bit early yet, but since we're talking about closing loops, I also spent a year in Australia when I was a teenager, and I'm going to do everything I can to go back, even if it seems a long way away".
In the meantime, Simone Barlaam has set himself other goals, away from the swimming pool: he wants to help create the lightest possible prostheses for all those who, like him, are disabled.
