ENGSO and ENGSO Youth at Paralympics
The Paris 2024 Paralympics, which opened on 28 August 2024, welcomed more than 4,000 athletes from around the world who competed in 22 different sports and 549 medal events.
ENGSO Vice Chair Filipa Godinho and ENGSO ExCom member Theo Neyenhuis attended the games, on behalf of University of Coimbra, Portugal (Filipa) and NOC*NSF (Theo).
Filipa Godinho attended both, Paralympics and Olympics, in her role as pro-dean of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She was there to support the students from the University who competed in both events.
“The atmosphere at the Paralympic Games is truly unique. I went to support the athletes and, as always, I received inspiration and a lesson in perseverance,” highlighted Filipa Godinho.
ENGSO ExCom member and EU Advisory Committee Chair Theo Neyenhuis was present at the TeamNL House, on behalf of NOC*NSF. “I have been working in and around the TeamNL House. This house was our first fan house during the Paralympics, and was just one of a few fan houses in Paris. In this house fans, athletes and their families could gather and celebrate the successes,” Theo explained his role at Paralympics.
His role was to organise two events: the first one together with two ministries and the umbrella organisations for employers in The Netherlands about inclusive labour market “How can we make sure that we do not just cheer for para athletes during the game, but that we also make sure that we can use their talents (and that of others with impairments) in regular jobs”. The second one was a networking event with Dutch administrators, (municipal, regional and national), focused on inclusive and accessible sports (financial, social and physical accessibility).
Besides that he also attended events from the European Paralympic Committee, SportInnovator (Sports4all Summit) and Erasmus University Rotterdam (symposium Impact – Inclusion – Integrity in & via sport).
Two ENGSO Youth Young Delegates and Alumni Club members were presented at Paralympics as well. Young Delegate Marie Halna was there as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representative based in the Athletes Village while Marie Lou Noirot worked as the Workforce Manager of the Olympic and Paralympic village for Paris 2024 staff. Besides the two Young Delegates, ENGSO Youth Alumni Club member Sofie Korbee and Zane Skujina-Rubene partcipated in the event as well.
ENGSO would like to congratulate to all athletes on their inspiring performances.