(L-R) Tom Habscheid - Shot Put 63; Katrin Kohl - 100m Wheelchair T54; Credit: © LUX Press / Luxembourg Paralympic Committee

On Tuesday 6 August 2024, Luxembourg's participation in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics officially ended with Vera Hoffman's elimination in the preliminary round of the Women's 1500m despite finishing a respectable 12th in her heat, with a time some 8 seconds off the pace.

For a summary of other Team Lëtzebuerg athletes' performances at the Olympics, click here.

The focus now shifts to the Paralympic Games, also taking place in Paris, from 28 August to 8 September 2024. Eligibility to compete in these games requires that athletes have certain medically defined forms of physical disability, and the emphasis is placed very firmly on their abilities. Depending on the sport, athletes are categorised into F (Field) and T (Track) and in order to ensure as far as possible fair competition, are sub-categorised according to their type of impairment. 

The word "paralympic" itself is derived from the Greek "para", (in this context meaning "alongside") and "Olympic". The games are organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which cooperates with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but is an independent organisation. Its vision is "To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world."

Luxembourg will be represented at the games by two athletes:

- Tom Habscheid, who will be competing in the Shot Put in the F63 classification. Tom has featured on the podium in both Discus and Shot Put at European and World levels, and currently holds the F63 classification world shot put record of 15.10m;

- Katrin Kohl, who will compete in the 100m Wheelchair Racing in the T54 classification. She has been entered into the games via a wildcard awarded by the IPC, and this will be her first paralympic games. Her personal best in the 100m is 19.13 seconds, and the record for the discipline is held by Wenjun Liu of China, with a time of 15.82 seconds set at the London Paralympics in 2012.

Wednesday 4 September

Athletics – 100m Women T54 Round 1
12:45 Katrin KOHL

Saturday 7 September

Athletics – Shot Put Men F63 Final
20:25 Tom HABSCHEID