Soufyane Mehiaoui

Started: He took up the sport at age 10. (Ville de Gif YouTube channel, 28 Nov 2023) Reason: "My sports teacher adapted several activities for the wheelchair, even table tennis and baseball. One day he took us to a match of the [wheelchair basketball] national team and I loved it immediately. Wheelchair basketball is the best Para sport. It's a complete discipline that requires strength, skill and intelligence." (bleushandisport.com, 01 Mar 2023; paris.fr, 22 Jan 2024) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and to win the world championships. (mydigimag.rrd.com, 07 Feb 2024) Additional Info: CLUB In 2021 he founded the Paris Basket Fauteuil wheelchair basketball team in Gennevilliers, France. "I founded the club because of the lack of training venues in Paris, which I struggled with myself. When I was younger I had to commute through Paris to find a club and doing it on a wheelchair was complicated. Then I continued my career abroad because I wanted to become a professional and returned to France to be immersed in the preparation for the [2024] Olympic Games [in Paris]. At this time I realised that the problem was still the same, so I had the chance to meet the mayor of the 18th borough who understood my project and thus the organisation was created." (bleushandisport.com, 01 Mar 2023; Ville de Gif YouTube channel, 28 Nov 2023; paris.fr, 22 Jan 2024; apajh.org, 19 Feb 2024) OTHER ROLES He is a national administrator at the Association for People with an Impairment [APAJH] in France. (apajh.org, 19 Feb 2024)