I’ve never been a sports person. I didn’t play sports growing up and my family didn’t invest time in teaching me anything besides how much they loved the Chicago Bulls when I was growing up in Puerto Rico. It was only me getting into my thirties where I started gaining an appreciation for sports. And this Paris 2024 Olympics was the first time that I actually sat down to watch an Olympics, cried over some of the sportsmanship moments, and felt like I truly started to understand what sports is all about. Because yes, the Olympics and the Paralympics are about the love of sport. But it’s also about resilience, overcoming the odds, and achieving your dreams.
When Nike invited me to attend the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics on behalf of Remezcla, I was admittedly a little bit nervous. As the Trending Editor, I have found myself diving headfirst into sports in a way I have never experienced before. It’s “fútbol” and not soccer, women are absolutely killing it across all fields, and there are so many different sports that I never knew about, are just a couple of the things that I’ve learned over the years. And going to the Paralympics felt like the ultimate test. Because sports have always been intimidating for me. But when I got to the Paralympics, I realized that I’ve been looking at sports like I need to know everything before I can enjoy it. And I don’t. No one does.
Even before I entered the Stade de France, the main stadium where the event was happening, I got goosebumps. It wasn’t just the signs that said Paris 2024, the people excitedly welcoming us, or the fact that I got to take a photo with the mascot for this year’s Olympics, the Phryges. It was the noise. From outside you could hear the crowd absolutely losing it. And I’m talking outside even before you get to the ticket booths and you’re on the walkway to get to the Stade de France. I’ve never experienced that many people cheering. Not even at concerts that I had attended before. And that same boost of energy that I got while I was standing outside, it was three times as strong when I actually got inside of the stadium and was surrounded by thousands upon thousands of fans.
While there, I got to watch the men’s and women’s 100M, 400M, Javelin, Discus, Long Jump, and even the wheelchair racing. Each athlete was given a warm welcome by thousands of fans and even though I didn’t know these athletes before the Paralympics, I found myself cheering for every single Latine athlete. I cheered for Brazil’s Claudiney Batista, who won gold for the Discus throw F56. I cheered for Cuba’s Omara Durand Elias, who won gold in the Women’s 100M, 200M, and 400M. And I cheered for Mexico’s Gloria Zarza Guadarrama, who won gold in the Women’s Shot Put. I wasn’t the only one cheering as where I was sitting is where the teammates or family of said athletes would come to cheer on their families and friends, with the Mexicans being the loudest and proudest with their flags and the Costa Ricans recognizing other Latine people in the halls and cheering them on too.
By the end of the night, I knew that this is something I wanted to experience again. Because I’ve always thought of sports as being inaccessible to the casual fans or viewer. But there are way more opportunities to understand these sports, achieve glory, and represent your country than I ever thought. And our people, Latine people, are here. Whether it’s out on the field, or coaching them to glory, our communities are here, showing that there are no limitations to sport and that you can make your dreams come true while inspiring others at the same time.
While in Paris, I also got to visit the Nike Headquarters. There, they spoke about GameOn, a new initiative by Nike and with the support of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The one-year career program is designed to increase awareness and underscore the importance of disability inclusion via a range of educational and professional development opportunities to support their career goals. Those selected for hire through the program will be entitled to employment benefits provided by Nike. In addition, Nike will provide relocation assistance for those in need, with applications opening September 12 here.
To speak on the importance of such programs, especially if it means these athletes can get the career tools to set them up to be better athletes or even coaches one day, we spoke with Vanessa Garcia-Brito, the VP and Chief Social & Community Impact Officer at Nike. For her, the North Star of her work at Nike and for programs like GameOn, is listening to athletes. “We’re trying to understand what are the barriers that they’re facing. We know there’s a problem with access, but access can look different whether you’re in Paris versus if you’re in LA or NY. We know that there needs to be better representation, but the representation needs to be of that particular community. That community of kids. So when we listen to the voice of the athlete, it’s really easy to stay on our North Star because you really can’t go wrong.”
Learning a sport, excelling at it, and ending up somewhere like the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics also is due in large part to the accessible equipment you have. While at the Nike Headquarters, Sarah Reinertsen, a Paralympic Runner and Nike Sports Marketing Manager, showed us some of the equipment, sneakers, and more that make sports more accessible. She showed us Bebe Vio’s fencing equipment, which was a special prosthetic to hold her foil as she represented Italy at the 2024 Paralympics. We also got to see the clothes, which are made with Paralympics in mind from the zipper that has Braille, to the pockets on the thighs for athletes in wheelchairs. And finally, we got to see the range of sneakers Nike has that help people who might not have the strength to tie their sneakers (like me) or can’t bend their feet to get a sneaker on.
Flying back from Paris and watching the Paralympics wrap up for the 2024 Summer season, I firstly find myself in disbelief because this feels a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone like me who grew up in the montes of Puerto Rico. But I also find myself mourning for the time I could have spent appreciating sports from a place grounded in an understanding that it’s more than just scoring points or winning gold. Sports keeps people going. It gives them hope and changes their lives for the better. It gives them community and something to rally around. And maybe I didn’t have that before, that understanding of what sports really is all about. But I can have it now. It’s not too late. It never is.
