France’s best-loved Paralympian tells Angelique Chrisafis of his extraordinary journey, how sport saved his life and a ‘rendezvous with destiny’ in Paris
France’s best-loved Paralympian on his extraordinary journey, how sport saved his life and a ‘rendezvous with destiny’ in Parishen the French wheelchair rugby team play their first match on Thursday, all eyes will be on Ryadh Sallem, whose extraordinary journey from thalidomide baby to record-breaking athlete has made him one of the country’s best-loved and longest-serving Paralympians.– is best known for competing in several sports.
His mother, who was a hotel manager, and his father, who worked for Monastir town hall, travelled back and forth from Tunisia to visit him and eventually settled in France, in Vitry‑sur‑Seine, in the south‑eastern suburbs of Paris. As a child, he had watched American basketball on TV and dreamed of wheelchair basketball. “But I was told you needed hands to play.” When a charity took the children on an outing to the circus in Paris, Sallem noticed the jugglers. “I thought: ‘Wow, they manage to balance plates on their noses, bottles on their elbows, balls on their backsides.’ I thought maybe I could therefore manage with a ball, so I learned juggling techniques to play basketball.
Sallem founded his own organisation to raise awareness around disability and disability rights, often giving talks in schools. “We explain that in an intelligent, civilised, human society, difference is the norm and everyone’s singularities should be accepted. Because you don’t choose who you are or the body you have. Religion, skin colour, sexual orientation – there are a lot of things we don’t choose in life, but what we can choose is to respect others.
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