Paris 2024: Ali Jawad supports Para powerlifting friends

Great Britain's retired Para powerlifting star Ali Jawad was invited to open the Paris 2024 Paralympics women's 79kg and men's 97kg competition at La Chapelle Arena with the French traditional three 'Coups de Baton' on September 7, while he took in the competition as fan and friend of the sport.

"It was the ultimate honour to open the events! The crowd were amazing and it felt great being on the competition stage."

Jawad admits he was just 'a little jealous' feeling the buzz at Paris 2024 after having taken part in his final Paralympic powerlifting competition at Tokyo 2020.

Seeing friends at Para powerlifting

"For me, it was the the arena itself. It's the first time I've seen it in that layout. Where you're centre stage. I loved it, and it would have definitely suited me very well as I like to be the centre of attention," Jawad told the IPC.

Jawad went to Para powerlifting across a number of competition days, trying to take in as much of the sport as he could.

"Being on the other side, watching the athletes have been incredible, especially the standard now, it's gone through the roof. You've got lifts that are history making."

"And even better, getting to see you know the GB (Great Britain) guys put in amazing performances over the last four days, it's been incredible."

"I also went to Para swimming. It's incredible. The atmosphere is insane. The arena was spectacular, especially the crowd. They were just very loud. And I felt very quite jealous of the athletes, really," he said.

Paralympic Village setting the standard

Jawad competed at Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, gaining a silver medal in the men's -59 kg in Rio. Despite so many Games experiences, this is his first time being a visitor instead of a competitor.

He took in the Paralympic Village as part of his trip, saying:

"I've heard huge feedback from the athletes about the athlete village being the most accessible it's ever been. And I think that could be the blueprint, not only for Paris itself generally in future, but also for future Paralympic Games, in LA and in Brisbane. I think Paris has done it very well."

Unfortunately, he hasn't managed to get any chocolate muffins yet. 

"Well, if people know me, they know like dessert. So for me, all the bakeries in Paris, I could just sit in them all day and just eat every single one of the desserts on offer. I went to the Village Monday but I didn't get a muffin... they've gone viral so I have to try to get one."

Continuous challenges after retiring

Jawad announced his 'retirement' after Tokyo 2020, but has been keeping busy since. This year he raced the London Marathon for the charity Crohn's and Colitis UK who he's been an ambassador for since 2012.

"When you kind of retire, there's a lot of time where you want to fill up. I've always wanted to do like a marathon, because it's the opposite of my strengths."

"I've done two marathons since I retired, and it's a different kind of physical exertion. It definitely does test you mentally and physically. When you get to the mile 17, when the war hits, you have to really dig deep. I don't find it too taxing mentally and emotionally, but on the body, it definitely killed me because it wasn't really my my forte."

Jawad is also completing a PHD with the University of Birmingham in 'anti doping and integrity issues in Para sport'.

A fitness app for people with a disability

But Jawad's biggest challenge has been launching a business, focused around disability fitness.

"Three years ago, before the Tokyo Games, I was very passionate about the fitness industry and making more accessible for disabled people. I did some research, and I realised that there were 71,000 fitness apps on the market, but none that specialised in disability, which I thought was a travesty," he exaplined.

"So I thought, well, what could a fitness app look like for disability? How can we allow disabled people to exercise independently? Not about being a Paralympian, just exercise. And yeah, we managed to launch the world's first of it's kind fitness app for disabled people, and three years later, where we've got nine impairments that are catered for."

"I'm hoping that not only does it act as a tool for disabled people to be active, but it allows practitioners like personal trainers and physios to also learn about kind of how to adapt different exercises to different disabilities. I think that's really important too, because the support network around you as a disabled person is as important," said Jawad.

With his elite sport mentality, Jawad isn't done with setting himself challenges: "I'd like to do a swimming challenge, maybe, or like a hand cycling marathon, something completely different, to test myself in a different way."