00:00Manel Senni has always shot for the moon, now the French wheelchair basketballer is
00:08taking time out from training to spread some Paralympic spirit among volunteers and local
00:14kids here in this Paris neighbourhood.
00:16It's important for me to finally get the real feelings about Paralympic sports, that they
00:25are sports like all sports, we work hard like all the athletes.
00:33For some, the excitement is already palpable.
00:38I'm so lucky to live in Paris because tourists are coming from all over and paying a lot
00:42of money to see the games and I can just watch them from my balcony.
00:49But the taster session is also an eye-opener for these players without disabilities.
00:56It gives you an idea of what wheelchair users feel every day.
01:01As part of its Paralympic preparation, the French capital has been trying to make those
01:06day-to-day experiences better.
01:09The city has been pouring millions into accessibility adaptations, renovating sports centres, creating
01:16hundreds of new disabled parking spaces, widening pathways and adding more infrastructure
01:22for people with visual impairments.
01:24Now all the buses are accessible, all the tramway is accessible, we have a lot of taxis
01:31accessible because we invest the game and we wanted the games to be an opportunity for
01:37us to change that.
01:40But the change hasn't reached all parts of town.
01:43The metro, first built in 1900, remains largely inaccessible, with many of those with reduced
01:50mobility left to struggle through the dense network daily.
01:55The city has been offering alternative shuttle routes to the games upon request, but for
02:00Manel, that doesn't go far enough.
02:03Me and a lot of people like me, we don't have a problem with our disabilities.
02:08It's really where we are that's going to make us more comfortable or not with our disabilities.
02:18She says she's confident things will get better, because she'll keep talking about it, to make
02:24sure that down the line, the Paralympics truly leave their mark on Paris.
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