Moroccan Paralympians aim to shine in Paris

Hibapress

Moroccan Paralympians aspire to raise the national flag high at the 17th Paralympic Games 2024 in Paris, which will begin on August 26, and to confirm their good performance in previous editions.

This is the 10th Moroccan participation in these Games, after the editions of Seoul 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

The total participation of Moroccan Paralympians stands at 38 medals: 16 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze.

Para athletics, which has taken the lion’s share of medals in its multiple appearances at the Paralympic Games, has 34 medals, while para swimming (Seoul 1988), para triathlon (Rio 2016), para powerlifting (London 2012) and blind football (Tokyo 2020) have collected bronze.

In Seoul in 1988, the Moroccan delegation was made up of seven athletes, including four in para athletics (Abouzdad Abderazzak, Anbaz Abderazzak, Khouli Fouad and Lâallali Said) and three in para swimming (Abdeljalil El Biyar, Azzedine Serghouchni and Azzedine Zouri), as well as as the wheelchair basketball team (Alilou Mohamed, Khalid Ennadi, Keddari Abdelkrim, Mourad Massaoudi, Miloudi Hafa and Abdelmjid Najmi).

Morocco was represented by five athletes at the Barcelona Games in Spain in 1992: four in para athletics (Abouzdad Abderazzak, Mustapha Bouyahya, Madjinouch Karim and Hassan Samsam) and one in para swimming (Hassan Chakboub) and by four athletes at Atlanta 1996, two in para athletics (Madani Mardi and Lakbir Mousnad) and two in para powerlifting (Khalid Kerda and Said Taouil).

In 2000 in Sydney, Ahmed El Namouri represented Morocco in para athletics, Badr Boubker in para swimming and Said Kalakh, Abdelkader El Chatbi, Fatiha Atartour, Khadija Assem and Said Taouil in para powerlifting.

At the 2004 Athens Games, the Moroccan delegation grew to ten athletes, 6 in para athletics (Mohamed Dayf, Mustapha Ouzari, Abdeljlil El Atifi, Elgaraa Leila, Abdallah Ezzin and Abdelghni Kattib) and 4 in para powerlifting (Khadija Assem, Malika Matar, Said Kalakh and Ahmed El Khayati). In Beijing in 2008, 14 athletes, men and women, competed in para athletics and 4 in para powerlifting.

Morocco’s participation in the London Games in 2012 was the largest in its history, with 15 athletes in para athletics, 11 in sitting volleyball, 3 in para powerlifting and one in wheelchair tennis.

At Rio 2016 in Brazil, a delegation of 26 athletes participated in the para athletics, para powerlifting, para triathlon and blind football events, out of around 4,300 athletes, representing 160 countries in 22 sports, to win 2,642 medals, including 528 gold.

These are 14 para athletics athletes: Abdelilah Mam, Saida Amoudi, Youssef Benbrahim, Sanae Benhema and El Amine Chentouf, gold medalist in the 5000m in Rio, Azeddine Nouiri, also gold medalist in the discus throw at the same edition, Youssra Karim, Youssef Ouadali, Hayat Elgaraa, Mohamed Amkoun, Hasnaa Moubal, Abdelhadi El Harti, Hafid Ahrak and Mahdi Afri.

In para powerlifting, Morocco was represented by Naima El Yousri, alongside Mohamed Lahna in the para triathlon, while in blind football, the Moroccan team, African champion, included ten players, namely Imad Baraka, Othmane Derouich, Mohamed Daoudi, Ahmed El Azouzi, Zouhir Snisla, Hassan El Makkaoui, Abderrazzak Hattab, Houssam Ghaili, Samir Bara and Ayoub El Serakh.

Morocco’s participation in the Tokyo Paralympic Games was “exceptional” and “historic”, with a harvest of 11 medals (4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze).

Moroccan champion Amine Chentouf (T12 category) gave Morocco a gold medal in the marathon, clocking 2h 21min 43sec, allowing him to set a new Paralympic record.

Alongside him, Abdeslam Hili, Zakaria Derhem and Ayoub Sadni also won the precious metal, while Fouzia Ksioui, Yousra Karim, Mohamed Amguoun and Azeddine Nouiri won silver.

In addition, bronze went to Hayat El Garaa, Saida Amoudi and the national blind football team which was in the spotlight thanks to its remarkable performance, notably against Argentina and Brazil.

Indeed, the trip to Tokyo was most fruitful for the Moroccan delegation composed for the first time of 38 athletes, with 11 medals won, ahead of the editions of Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 with 7 medals won.

Para athletics was the most represented with 19 athletes, in addition to 3 in para powerlifting, 3 in para taekwondo, 2 in wheelchair tennis and one in para cycling, in addition to the remarkable national blind football team which caused a sensation during these games, with players who stood out for their performance like the talented Zouhair Snisla.