Ryadh Sallem

Started: He took up the sport in 2009. (20minutes.fr, 19 Oct 2023) Reason: After a career in wheelchair basketball and a stint competing in swimming, he was convinced to start playing wheelchair rugby. "Already in 1992 some people told me that I should join rugby. I had just joined the wheelchair basketball national team so I was living my passion, my dream and I told them, 'Let's see if after my career I still have some energy left'. In 2009 I left the [basketball] team and one member of the wheelchair rugby national team called me and said, 'You have the high performance experience, don't you want to join us?' I made the mistake of saying yes and, after being invited to a training camp, I was hooked." (20minutes.fr, 19 Oct 2023) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (entreprendre.fr, 25 Nov 2022) Awards: He was named the Best 3.5 Class Player at the 2016 Paralympic Games Qualification Tournament in Paris, France. (iwrf.com, 18 Apr 2016) He was named Most Valuable Player [MVP] and Best Attacker at the 2012 European Cup in Berlin, Germany. (atlantiquerugbyfauteuil.fr, 2012) Additional Info: DELAYED RETIREMENT He considered retiring from the sport following the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro but decided not to when Paris was announced as host city of the 2024 Games. "After Rio I told myself that I could well retire. But Paris won the organisation of the Games and I considered it a sign. It meant I would finish my career at home and I would do whatever it takes to make it happen." (20minutes.fr, 19 Oct 2023) OTHER ROLES He has served as an ambassador and a member of the administration council at the organising committee for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (20minutes.fr, 19 Oct 2023) ASSOCIATION FOUNDER In 1995 he founded the Cap Sport Art Aventure Amitie [CAPSAAA] association in Paris, France. The organisation offers a variety of sport programmes, as well as education programmes aimed at improving the professional integration of people with an impairment. (lemonde.fr, 02 Sep 2016; handi-partage.fr, 01 Jan 2012)