The exciting journey to Paris 2024 continues to gather pace as Omega now marks the one-year countdown to The Paralympic Games. The Swiss watchmaker has been the Official Timekeeper of this inspiring event since 1992, and will continue the role next year when competition begins on August 28th, 2024.
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To set the countdown in motion, Raynald Aeschlimann, Omega President and CEO, was joined by Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, as well as Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee.
The moment was also a chance for OMEGA to welcome two new Paralympic athletes to its family of sporting ambassadors. This included Bebe Vio, a fencer who has won four Paralympic medals for Italy, as well as Alexis Hanquinquant, a French triathlete who won gold at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Raynald Aeschlimann said, “It’s an honour for Omega to measure every result at The Paralympic Games. As Bebe and Alexis have proven, the achievements of these athletes are always incredibly special, so we are looking forward to being here in Paris next year and measuring another summer of dreams.”
The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will bring together 4,400 of the world’s most outstanding Paralympic athletes, who will compete over 12 days between August 28th to September 8th, 2024. To build anticipation in the host city, Omega’s Countdown Clock is positioned at Port de la Bourdonnais, near the iconic beams of the Eiffel Tower.
Alexis Hanquinquant is a Paralympic athlete from France who competes in the triathlon competition.
Before becoming a para athlete, Alexis was an avid basketball player, and a full contact boxer who competed at a high level, becoming French champion in 2010.
An accident that same year led to his paratriathlon journey, where he is currently ranked number 2 in the world. His success includes a gold medal in the PTS4 event at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, and a total of eleven gold medals throughout his career so far. This includes both the European Championships and World Championships, which he won in 2017-2018.
Beatrice Vio, better known as Bebe, is an Italian wheelchair fencer in the foil B category.
At the age of 5, Bebe began practising standing fencing and, after a forced stop due to meningitis, she resumed fencing in the wheelchair version in 2010.
Her impressive career so far has included three gold medals at the World Championships and five medals, including 4 gold, at the European Championships. Most notably, she has also won four medals at the Paralympic Games, including two golds at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
When not competing, Bebe is a bold campaigner for paralympic sport and children with physical disabilities, with the Bebe Vio Academy offering an inclusive program that aims to make sport accessible to all.
