International Day of Persons with Disabilities: After fighting bullies, Paralympic champion Arnaud Assoumani now on mission to change perceptions of disability

Arnaud Assoumani wants you to ask him any question you want. And please, don't be shy.

How does he get dressed? How does he brush his teeth, or shower? Is it painful?

No topic is off limits for the five-time Paralympian who was once a victim of teen bullying and has also witnessed other people with visible or invisible disabilities encounter stigma.

Already with five Paralympic medals – including gold from Beijing 2008 – the French Para long jumper is dreaming of adding another prize to his glittering record in 11 months. But this time, a medal is not the first thing on his mind.

Assoumani, 38, admits he would have retired from sport if not for Paris 2024 winning the hosting bid and is now looking to the home Paralympic Games as an opportunity to break stereotypes of disability in France and help create change that lasts beyond the 12-day event.

"As a kid I didn't tolerate discrimination, and that was pretty much from the start a motivation for everything that I was going to do after," Assoumani told Olympics.com.

"I know that it already did because I received some messages from kids and parents, and that's really the most important for me."

From shared laughs in elementary school to teenage bullying

Born without a lower left arm, Assoumani was aware he was not exactly like the other kids, but there was nothing negative about their questions when they approached him on the playground.

Things changed when he became a teen.

"I haven't really felt the difference until middle school. Before I knew, of course, I was alone with a physical difference, but it was not really an issue. I was making fun of it when other kids were asking me something," Assoumani said.

"The best reaction was humour and I didn't care at all because I was just expressing myself as a kid. And that's the thing, it was not affecting me, but when you are beginning to be a teenager, you want people to like you and you're building a personality, it's completely different. You don't understand if you're being put on the side or people are looking at you differently or don't want to do things with you for the reason that it could be.

"At first I was like, 'OK, I don't have a disability'...It's not an identity and you don't define yourself by this characteristic. It's just a characteristic among others."

For a few years before high school, Assoumani became the target of harassment and bullying.

"That was really a hard part because I was pulled aside, I was not included, and I was really the nicest kid, so I didn't understand why. I had done nothing wrong," he recalled. "I was sad. I changed school. I haven't talked about it to my mom until the day I said, 'Stop, I don't want to go there anymore'."

At one point, the harassment became so regular that Assoumani even used taekwondo skills he was then learning to defend himself against the bullies.

"It was not long, but when I changed school, I'd get into a fight if I had to defend someone or defend myself, without any hesitation. So I switched completely from the nicest kid, to, not the worst one, but it was like, 'Don't mess with me. I'm going to defend myself'," he said. "I think it was important [to show that] I exist. I have the right to exist."

While the bullying stopped as he grew up, Assoumani said he continues to find traces of the attitudes he encountered as a teenager in the adults nowadays. For him, this is nothing surprising.

"Kids and teenagers are pretty much a reflection of society and what the adults and society in general are showing. Yes, kids can be mean, but usually they are mean because they don't know," he explained.

"As adults, it's even harder if you've never seen someone different. It's harder because you need to deconstruct some of the cliches and stigma that we can have on a lot of different subjects, so that's why it's so important to go in schools, work with kids, show them a little bit the world as it is and other perspectives."

Prosthesis as art: Making differences beautiful

For Assoumani, openly talking about the stigma associated with disability is the first step to tackling the issue. And no topic is taboo when the Paralympic champion goes to speak to children or adults.

"[With kids] it's pretty basic. 'How do you shower? How do you get dressed, how do you tie your shoes? Is it painful? And can I try your [prosthesis]?'," Assoumani said. "They actually say to the parents, 'I want the same', so I'm like, 'No, maybe you don't'."

The difference between speaking to adults is that while kids take Assoumani at his word and ask any questions they want, adults are often too shy to ask what they are truly curious about.

"Adults sometimes have the same questions, but they're afraid to ask them," the athlete said. "Then one asks, 'Can I touch?' and everyone comes back [to join] so you can see their view and their perception change right away."

His prosthetic arm is a frequent conversation starter for Assoumani.

While people tend to avert their gaze from wheelchairs or prosthesis, Assoumani wants people to look – and marvel.

At London 2012, he wore a prosthesis with a beehive, golden pattern that earned him the nickname “Golden Arm”. Another design featured the French tricolour, and his most recent one is a futuristic model moulded in the shape of a DNA spiral.

"It's a piece of art," Assoumani said. "What I like in art, in general, and in sport also, it's a way of expression. You can express yourself and that's really important, to express yourself. It means that you can be free."

The prosthesis comes in a black and white version, and has made headlines in the French media, including an editorial spread in GQ France.

Assoumani is now working with designers on his next prosthesis design - a 100 per cent organic model that will be featured in a photo exhibition during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Arnaud Assoumani: Dreaming beyond medals

Assoumani was five years old when he saw long jump for the first time on TV, and a lifelong passion for the sport was born.

"I was amazed by the aesthetic of it. For me, they were flying, and I said, 'Oh, I want to fly too'," he recalled. "I said to my father, 'I want to compete in the Olympic Games, so it started from there'."

As Assoumani scaled the ranks of Paralympic sport, his childhood ambition of competing at an Olympic Games continued to burn inside him and heading to London 2012, he tried to qualify for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"I won the gold at the Paralympics. There's nothing else to reach, and my level, I knew that I could improve a lot. I had a lot of injury in the past with my back. Now, I didn't know how far I could go, but I thought I could quantify," Assoumani said. "And actually, I did some jumps over eight metres, 15 and 20, which could be sufficient to qualify for the Olympics, but unfortunately I got injured once again."

While Assoumani barely missed Olympic qualification, it turned out to be the perfect stage to spread his message of inclusion and acceptance.

"The first cliche that you can find is the word 'disability' or 'handicap' associated with a lack of performance, which is completely false for so many reasons," said Assoumani who went on to take two silvers, in the long jump and triple jump F46, at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

"If you have a disability, it does not mean you cannot have reflection, that you cannot create, that you cannot perform."

With less than a year to go until the home Games, Assoumani is in top shape, and in the spotlight, once again. He barely missed the podium at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris in July 2023, finishing fourth in the long jump, and is continuing his advocacy work to change perceptions of disability.

"It's the most important year of my career for sure and my goal is to win in Paris," he said. "Winning or medalling, then it's a tribune to be able to have your messages spread out even more."

On 8 October he made an appearance at Paralympic Day as a Paris 2024 Ambassador. The day-long event showcased 14 Para sports and gave visitors a chance to try them out in Place de la Republique in central Paris.

Assoumani also helped to host the inaugural edition last year, and is excited for the changes that awareness efforts such as Paralympic Day and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities can bring about.

"I haven't seen this feeling of fraternity and diversity in France yet," he said. "The last time I felt that I think it was at the Paralympic Games in 2012 in London."