Marie-Amélie Le Fur: “Working to ensure that everyone can find their place”

Marie-Amélie Le Fur, President of the French Paralympic & Sports Committee (CPSF) looks back on the unparalleled moment of the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 in an exclusive interview for Groupe BPCE.

Amélie-Amélie Le Fur, President of the French Paralympic & Sports Committee, tells us about the two main missions pursued by the institution she has been leading since 2018: the first, to manage the French national team during the Paralympic Games; the second, to promote access to sport for people with disabilities and to represent the 48 French federations wanting to develop a sports offering adapted to people with disabilities.

The CPSF’s ambition is to include all competitive and recreational disciplines while simultaneously being more inclusive for people with all types of motor, sensory, intellectual or psychological disability. A major objective for Marie-Amélie Le Fur is “to work to ensure that everyone can find their place in the French sports movement.”

Exceeding all expectations

When discussing her initial reaction just a few days before the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Marie-Amélie Le Fur’s enthusiasm was plain to see: “They’ve exceeded all my expectations!” she said. Above and beyond the athletic exploits, the mass appeal of the events (2.3 million tickets sold) and other benchmarks of success, the former three-time Paralympic athletics champion emphasized a deeper lesson to be drawn from these games: “the ability of the public to adapt to the singularity of people with disabilities and the ability of the Games to touch the French public emotionally, allowing them to share an extraordinary experience.”

In this way, the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 represented an extraordinary catalyst not only for the sporting performance of French athletes but also for a lasting transformation of our society. As Marie-Amélie put it: “There has been a change in people’s attitudes throughout the ecosystem that underpins the success of sporting activities. Para sport has won people’s respect. The legacy is already established. We must now show that, together, we can be worthy custodians of this legacy!”

A change in attitudes

This legacy also has a physical dimension: providing accessible buildings and creating an accessible city means laying the foundations for an inclusive society. “We are also serving our collective future by creating these accessible buildings and cities,” emphasizes Marie-Amélie Le Fur.

The intangible legacy, for its part, invites us to bring about a sweeping change in attitudes and to make sport an integral part of the life paths of people with disabilities. The passion for sport must be lived collectively, as a shared experience, with all due respect for each person’s essential individuality.

All aboard now!

And what about the future? Marie-Amélie Le Fur’s ambition as President of the CPSF is to “continue pursuing joint projects, particularly in the field of disability,” bringing together all the different parties – businesses, the healthcare sector, the sports movement, and the world of education – around the same table with a view to creating a continuum throughout the life of a disabled person. “Sport can also be a driving force in promoting the individual emancipation of people with disabilities, and must be elevated to the same level as other key areas of life.”

In her conclusion, Marie-Amélie Le Fur emphasized the importance of the action taken by Groupe BPCE and its commitment to supporting athletes and the sports economy, a sentiment fully justified by the fact that Marie-Amélie herself received support from one of the Group’s banks, the Caisse d’Epargne Loire-Centre, for two editions of the Paralympic Games.