2024 Paralympic Games: discover goalball, an unusual sport reserved for the visually impaired

Para badminton, wheelchair rugby, para judo, cecifoot... Most Olympic events have a Paralympic counterpart. There are, however, two singularities in the list of sports regularly played at the Games: boccia and goalball. These two disciplines only exist in Paralympic form!

Goalball is a team ball sport reserved for the visually impaired and blind. To succeed, athletes must rely on their hearing, sense of touch and reflexes. This sport can be very spectacular to watch: don't miss the events organized during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, from August 29 to September 5, at theArena Paris Sud 6, at Porte de Versailles.

Goalball first appeared at the Toronto Paralympic Games in 1976. Women had to wait until 1984 to take part in the competition. The sport was created in the aftermath of the Second World War, for soldiers who had survived the war and lost their sight.

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The sport is played on a volleyball court (18mx9m), with a ball decorated with bells. Teams are made up of six players: three on the court, and three as substitutes. The aim is to send the ball into the opponent's goal, bouncing it at least once on the ground. Players take turns attacking and then defending: they must prevent the ball from reaching the goal by using their bodies to stop the ball's trajectory. The match is played over two 12-minute periods, but can be stopped early if one team scores ten points more than the other.

This sport requires a great deal of tactics, concentration and the silence of the audience, so that the athletes can hear the ball's movements.

In France, this sport is still little known and practiced. French athletes are only just beginning to make their mark. At the last Games, China, Finland and Denmark made their mark on the podium.

If you'd like to try your hand at goalball, turn to the French Handisport Federation, which runs the sport. The official website lists 12 clubs in Paris and the Ile-de-France region:

• Association sportive Handi Jeunes de Paris - Paris, 17th arrondissement
• BienHêtre - Paris 17th and Soisy-sous-Montmorency, 95
• Entente sportive de Massy - Massy, 91
• Handi'Up Sports - Saint-Pierre-du-Perray, 91
• Impro Valentin Hauy Chilly-Mazarin - Chilly-Mazarin, 91
• Lutèce club handisport - Suresnes, 92
• Relais handisport 92 - Boulogne-Billancourt, 92
• Union nationale des aveugles et déficients visuels Île-de-France - Boulogne-Billancourt, 92
• ACBB Cecifoot - Boulogne-Billancourt, 92
• Association Handisport et sport adaptés Châtillon et Fontenay-aux-Roses - Châtillon, 92
• Les Tourterelles Villejuif - Villejuif, 94
  
  

It's your turn to play!