Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Alexis Hanquinquant and Nantenin Keïta named flag-bearers for the French delegation

Alexis Hanquinquant and Nantenin Keïta will be carrying the French flag at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, scheduled at Place de la Concorde on August 28. It will be the first time the two para athletes share this honour.

Following the vote of the French athletes selected and in the process of being selected for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on July 9 and 10, Alexis Hanquinquant (Para triathlon) and Nantenin Keïta (Para athletics) were designated flag-bearers for the French delegation. This is a major first for the two para sport athletes.

After Tokyo 2020, when Stéphane Houdet and Sandrine Martinet carried the national flag together, it is once again a mixed duo who have been appointed to the important and symbolic position of flag-bearers.

The two flag-bearers' profiles

Alexis Hanquinquant – Para triathlon

On August 28, 2021, Alexis Hanquinquant became Para triathlon paralympic champion in Tokyo (Japan). At the end of a perfect race, the Yvetot (Seine-Maritime) native won, blue-white-red flag in hand, nearly 4 minutes ahead of his closest rival. It was a crowning achievement for this immense 35-year-old champion, a three-time world gold medallist before winning the grail in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Since then, Alexis Hanquinquant has continued to reign over his discipline, notching up three more world titles in the PTS4 category. As a star of his discipline, the man from Normandy is now more than just a para sporting figure, when we saw him for instance walking up the steps of the Cannes Film Festival with the precious Olympic flame. So it's pretty obvious that his name appears in the contenders' list for the role of flag-bearer for the French delegation, at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, scheduled for August 28 on the Champs-Elysées and Place de la Concorde.

His life was turned upside down on August 5, 2010, when his right leg was crushed by a piece of machinery while he was working as a mason. Then, he had to undergo a knee amputation three years later. After this ordeal, sport seemed to be an outlet for the Norman. His story was put down on paper a few weeks ago with the publication of his book La Rage de vaincre, co-written with journalist Marie-Céline Dubois.

"Together with my wife Eva, I wanted to pass on my story to my children through this book. They're still a bit young to understand, but we wanted to leave a trace, with this book, so that they can immerse themselves in the darkness we went through, with their mother", he said when promoting the book in the France Bleu columns.

"It was very emotional and obviously great news! Tokyo was a very special experience. It was my first time at the Games, so I couldn't compare it with what it was like before. Despite the pandemic, we were lucky in triathlon to have a few spectators on the side of the road. But it's undeniable that for Paris, it's impossible to quantify the fervour. It's going to be magical", he added to France Télévisions, the official broadcaster of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Nantenin Keïta – Para athletics

It was 22 years ago that Nantenin Keïta ("Nanto" for her close ones) achieved her first significant result on the international stage (a silver medal at the world championships in the 400 m T13). Since then, the woman from Bamako (Mali) has competed in no fewer than four Paralympics, with a fifth in her sights at the Paris 2024 Games. She has often been successful, as can be seen from her trophy cabinet, which now counts four Paralympic medals, including a gold in 2016 in Rio.

2024 will undoubtedly be a milestone for this determined and inspiring athlete. And with good reason: she will retire at the end of the Paris 2024 Games, her final challenge at home. But before leaving the track, Nantenin Keïta experienced what thousands of athletes dream of doing in their careers: carrying the Olympic flame. On May 8, the sprinter was the first torchbearer to carry the flame on French soil. A moment out of time.

Her disability has never removed her from her goals. Obstinate, she doesn't think albinism is a weak point, any more than her blindness (she only has 0.7 and 0.8 tenths in her eyes, with difficulties in perceiving colours and distances). As a member of the T13 category, she has been on the podium for 20 years in the 100, 200 and 400m. Her performances have made her one of France's most successful para-athletes, with 14 international medals to her name.

Paralympic champion and ambassador for the rights of people with albinism, Nantenin Keïta is about to embark on her fifth Games with the ambition to shine! "To come out of the Paris Games saying, I have no regrets, I did what I had to do, I was at the end of my story, I am proud of myself, that's not easy. That would already be great" she told Olympics.com in the summer of 2023. After she earned an advanced technician's diploma (BTS) in Business Studies, she's been working in the Human Resources team at Malakoff Médéric since 2009.

From now on, she works to promote the integration of people with disabilities and their career development. These qualities, both on and off the track, brought her to the Legion of Honour in 2016 and a status of a leader in the French Paralympic delegation.

"I'm extremely happy and grateful for the trust the athletes have placed in us. The Games are a collective adventure. I'm convinced of the power of the collective. If we succeed in our Games, we succeed with the people around us. I'm very attached to this team, to the human adventure we're living. And seeing these happy athletes is touching for me. I tell myself that we've managed to leave something behind in our sport. That's very important to me", she told France Télévisions, the official broadcaster of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.