Change Starts With Sport: Athletes talk about disability and the power of sport

To celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, discover the stories of five athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Paralympics and how taking up Para sports has transformed their lives.

Veronica’s story of finding confidence

Italy’s Veronica Plebani says Para sport helped her gain self-confidence after she contracted meningitis when she was 15 years old.

“It was hard to handle such a big transformation in my life as a teenager. The hardest part at the beginning was to see myself in such a transformed body and to get to know how to live with a disability, to relearn a lot of the things that I was struggling with.

“The hardest part was to get used to not comparing myself to the Veronica I knew before and to the things I knew how to do before,” Plebani said.

With her love for sports, competing at the Paralympic Games seemed like a calling. She has competed in three Para sports – Para snowboard, Para canoe, and Para triathlon – at the Paralympics.

“Sport, it was something super important to me to understand how to live again. Going into sport, I could understand that my body could still do amazing stuff, and it was so important for my confidence.”

Outside of sport, she posed for the cover of Vogue magazine in Italy. She has written a novel based on her time recovering in the hospital. On social media, she stresses the importance of being positive and confident.

“I wish to all the girls that are out there, maybe struggling with their bodies and their disability, to find a place where you can learn a lot about yourself and about what you like.

“In that place, you can grow, you can start to grow from there. You can do amazing stuff.”

Markus’ story of finding his own identity

Growing up with a passion for sport, Markus Rehm thought he lost his sense of identity after losing his right leg in a wakeboarding accident. Now a five-time Paralympic champion, Rehm says Para sport helped him reclaim his identity.

“I always was the sports guy in school. I always was the athlete among my friends. And suddenly I was the disabled guy.

“Para sport gave me my identity back. And I think it’s the big motivation for me to jump further and further and even further than maybe some Olympic athletes today because I am not the disabled guy. I’m the athlete.”

Rehm is one of the most successful long jumpers in Paralympic history, holding the world record of 8.72 metres in the men’s T64 class. He has been unbeaten in the long jump at the Paralympics since London 2012.

“What I enjoy most (about sport) is meeting great people, to meet great athletes to compete,” Rehm said. “I love competing, I still love what I’m doing. I love the long jump.”

Husnah’s story of finding freedom

Before starting Para swimming, Uganda’s Husnah Kukundakwe was shy and self-conscious. Born without her right forearm, Kukundakwe used to hide her missing limb underneath long sleeves.

But she does not need long sleeves anymore.

“As I got into swimming, a sport where you have to take off all of your clothes and be open in the water, I started to feel more comfortable with myself, more comfortable with people staring at me. I didn’t care, and I decided to focus more on myself.”

“I love how free it makes me feel. I have never felt uncomfortable in the water.”

Kukundakwe was the youngest athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at age just 14. She competed in three events at Paris 2024, her second Games.

“I like showing people my disability, and I like showing people that I’m different. And that’s OK. I just love being in my own skin without having the fear of being discriminated against.

“I wouldn’t have gotten that confidence if I hadn’t joined Para swimming.”

Robyn’s story of finding love

Great Britain’s Robyn Love took up wheelchair basketball after watching the London 2012 Paralympics. More than a decade later, she says Para sport has shown her that “disability is positive.

“Para sport has made me proud to be disabled. It made me proud of who I am, all of me,” Love said. “Sport is a great way of creating positive experiences around people with disabilities.”

For Love, Paris has always been a special place – the French capital is where she proposed to her partner and teammate Laurie Williams. It was also where she competed this summer in front of their daughter Alba.

“I do think that the Paralympic Movement is about diversity and inclusion. For me, I’m just grateful to be able to participate not only as my true authentic self with a disability but as my true authentic self as a person.”

“When I think about my daughter, she is just going to think that people in wheelchairs are amazing. I want her to just walk down the street and smile at someone in a chair, smile as someone who is an amputee and have no fear or reservations.”

Elliott’s story of finding ‘gold’

At the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, Elliott Loonstra was Aruba’s flagbearer and also the sole athlete in the parade. By taking up Para taekwondo, he has made history by becoming the only athlete from Aruba to compete at two Games.

With his flashy blue hair and heart-shaped sunglasses, the Para taekwondo athlete walked down the Champ Elysees, embracing the opportunity to represent the island country at one of the world’s largest sporting events.

“It is a lot of pressure at times because I feel like I have 120,000 or 130,000 people on my back, and I’m the one who has to represent them in the sport. But at the same time, it is a major honour, especially being the only one here.”

“I am the one who is holding that flag up. I am the one who is like, ‘You know what? We may be small, but Aruba is still here. We are still represented at one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. It feels amazing.”

“The goal obviously is to go home with the gold, but even if I don’t go home with the gold, I’ve already got some gold in here,” he said while pointing at his heart.

While he did not win a medal in Paris, he has high hopes for LA 2028 and making more history for his country.