After the end of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the French capital hosts the seventeenth edition of the Summer Paralympic Games between 28 August and 8 September, where Christian witness is also guaranteed.

As it happened a few weeks ago at the Olympics, when several athletes from different disciplines talking about God and remembering Him in their achievements, there are also Paralympic athletes who openly identify themselves as disciples of Jesus.

A list published in Christianity Today magazine features, among others, New Zealander William Stedman, who has cerebral palsy and competes in the T36 long jump and men's 400m categories.

His favourite verses are Philippians 4:6-7 and he says that "trusting God through the pressure and the ups and downs of being a professional athlete" has been very important to him.

Or the Brazilian sprinter Alan Fonteles Cardoso de Oliveira, Paralympic 200m T44 champion at the London 2012 Games (beating even favourite Oscar Pistorius).

Fonteles had both legs amputated when he was less than a month old, after suffering an intestinal infection that led to sepsis. He runs with wooden prostheses adapted to the track and field floor.

One of his favourite Bible passages is Psalm 37:5-27 and he says "God has been amazing" in his journey.

Jessica Long

But if there is one name that stands out when it comes to Paralympic sport, it is American swimmer Jessica Long. At 32, Paris 2024 will be her sixth Paralympic Games.

Since her debut at Athens 2004 at the age of 12, Long has won 29 medals, 16 gold, one more than her training partner Michael Phelps, who is considered the most successful athlete in history.

Long was born in Siberia with hemimelia peronea, that is, without the fibula bones in her legs, and was abandoned by her biological parents.

At just a few months old, she arrived in the United States, where she was adopted by Beth and Steve and had a total of 25 surgeries.

I do wonder what I could have done if I could have swam so many events, but I'm so very grateful and proud of what I've done, she told news agency France 24.

In an interview on The Natalie Tysdal Podcast, she admitted that "I've always been proving myself, showing that I wasn't just a legless girl, that I was worth it, that I can find a way to forgive my birth mother and that it really was for the best".

What is not reported in the mainstream media is that Long is a Christian who speaks openly about her faith in Jesus.

As she faces her sixth Paralympic Games in Paris, Long underlined that swimming is something she loves, and "a God-given talent".

The swimmer does not rule out competing professionally until the next Paralympic Games, which will be held in Los Angeles in 2028. "It would be great to retire at home," she says.

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