More Than the Games: A look at the stories from the first day of the Paralympic Games

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing may have been the original goal for Team USA’s Christie Raleigh-Crossley, but following injuries sustained in two separate road collisions in the space of 15 months and later putting a pause on her sporting life to have her three children, the 37-year-old made her Paralympic debut on Thursday, breaking a world record in the process.
Raleigh-Crossley began competing in para swimming in 2022, but just two years on she could well achieve her goal of returning home to New Jersey with four medals from the Games in Paris.
Her time in para swimming has been plagued with accusations that she’s gaming the grading system, which groups athletes based on the impact of their impairments. For para swimming, the lower the number of your grading, the higher the impact of your impairment.
For Raleigh-Crossley, she competes in the S9 and S10 grades by virtue of her neurological impairments, but naysayers abound. “It’s because I am so good,” she recently told the New York Times on why she thinks she has been the target of such accusations.
And good she is. Competing in heat two of the S10 50m freestyle on Thursday morning, Raleigh-Crossley clocked a time of 27.28, shaving 0.09 off the previous record that had stood since the 2016 Games in Rio. Not bad for a first Paralympic appearance.
She missed out on gold in the final and saw the world record go to China’s Yi Chen, who won in 27.10, with Raleigh-Crossley taking silver in 27.38.
Thursday saw two Irish Paralympians in finals at La Défense Arena, the backdrop for three of Team Ireland’s most recent Olympic medals.
Nicole Turner finished sixth in the S6 50m freestyle event while Róisín Ní Riain was fourth in the S13 100m butterfly.
It was quite the result for Ní Riain considering her event of choice is the backstroke, and hopes are high that she’ll make it on to the podium in one of her three remaining events.
Of course, Turner is a silver medallist from the S6 50m butterfly at the Tokyo Games and Ellen Keane is the reigning champ in the SB8 100m breaststroke.
Are we now a nation of swimmers? Looks like it.
Cast your mind back to the Paris Olympics, seems like forever ago now doesn’t it? As Tara Davis-Woodhall was competing in the long jump final at Stade de France, one person in the crowd became a big hit on social media with his wholehearted celebration of the 25-year-old American.
Granted, the person in question was her husband, Hunter Woodhall, who beamed as his wife ultimately won gold. “Baby, you’re the Olympic champion! Oh my God, you did it,” he exclaimed as he embraced her after the event. The internet ate it up.
Well now the roles will be reversed, and it’s her turn to take a seat in the stands of that same stadium as Woodhall, a double leg amputee, competes in Paralympics.
He’ll take to the starting blocks in the T64 100m on Sunday and the T62 400m on September 6th.
The disparity in Paralympic coverage compared to the Olympics is not a novel topic, but a new voice has entered the chat.
Jürgen Klopp, the former Liverpool manager, was on hand in Paris for the opening day of action and was pictured in the crowd on the opening night of swimming finals at the La Défense Arena.
Klopp said he always watches the Games, or at least when he can find coverage on television. Hint hint broadcasters.
It helps that his bestie Wojtek Czyz is a 10-time Paralympic medallist, but his point remains valid.
“Nowadays it should be easier with all the streaming things but I think we all are ready to watch much more [of the Paralympics] than we show.
“Only a few weeks ago we had the Olympics here and they had more cameras here, of course. Somebody has to start with it. Broadcasting is a business, 100 per cent, I understand that, but I really think we should show much more because it’s so encouraging, it’s so wonderful.”
At home, RTÉ is to show 104 hours of coverage from these Games, up from 99 hours at London 2012, so we’re going in the right direction.
The number of nations, including Ireland, which competed at the first Paralympic Games in 1960. Paris 2024 will feature 169 nations/teams.
“I feel really proud to be able to go to the Paralympics as part of a team that is so strong, and to see it out in a good position as well is motivating.” – Ellen Keane ahead of her first swim at her last Paralympic Games.