The UNIQLO Interview: Stephane Houdet
One of the most memorable moments of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was Frenchman Stephane Houdet celebrating with his young children, Aurore and Gabriel, in front of a packed Court Philippe Chatrier.
It is fair to say that the Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event really caught the imagination of the record-breaking crowds at Roland Garros – the first Grand Slam venue to host the Games.
Revolutionary and transformational are just two words which could be used to describe the Games, which saw an endless stream of intriguing storylines and daily instalments of emotion-ridden history.
A total of 191,000 tickets were sold across the nine days of competitive action as the skill and drama which defines wheelchair tennis was showcased to a new and hungry global audience.
Houdet, who at the age of 53 was the oldest player competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event, more than played his part, although proof of success can sometimes emerge in the most unlikely of scenarios.
“In the days after the Paralympics I was just going through Paris when I saw someone I thought was a homeless guy, a juggler doing a show at a red light,” said Houdet.
“He said, ‘hey sir’ and I thought he was going to ask for money. He actually said, ‘I want to thank you. It was the first time for me watching the Paralympics and it was full of love. You have a nice family. Thank you’.
“It was an amazing moment for me. When I am in my shorts and at the airport with my wheelchair, people recognise me. But it is not so normal to be approached in the street in the middle of nowhere.
“I was just going back to normal life after the Paralympics, taking my youngest daughter to nursery and things like that, so the level of recognition was surprising. Nothing compares to how it is now.”
View this post on Instagram
For Houdet, Paris 2024 was a career-defining event years in the making. He was actually considering retiring from wheelchair tennis in 2018 before the prospect of contesting the Paralympics on the clay of Roland Garros lured him back from the brink.
Saint Nazaire-born Houdet then quit his job in the French army – he was delivering a sports rehab programme for soldiers – so he could fully focus on preparations. In short, he wanted to ensure the best possible version of himself showed up in the summer.
While he succumbed in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles and, alongside Frederic Cattaneo, lost in the men’s doubles bronze medal match, Paris 2024 more than lived up to billing.
“It exceeded all expectations, massively,” added Houdet, who was won five Paralympic medals, three of them gold, during his illustrious career.
“I could never have imagined what it was going to be like and I have made memories that will last a lifetime. London 2012 was always my example, but now it is Paris 2024.
“As amazing as London was, I played the men’s singles final against Shingo Kunieda and it was late afternoon. People started going to the Olympic Stadium as it was the track and field with Oscar Pistorius competing.
“We played our final in front of a half-full court. In Paris it was packed – 15,000 on Court Philippe Chatrier and 10,000 on Court Suzanne Lenglen. When I went to a press conference, for the first time at Roland Garros I had to use the path under the courts as it was so busy."
Paris 2024 also offered Houdet, who lost his left leg after being struck by a car in 1996 while touring the capital cities of Europe on a motorbike, the chance to work with Yannick Noah.
Former Roland Garros champion Noah, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world in 1986, was the captain of the French men’s wheelchair tennis team for the Games. Even he was astounded by the atmosphere.
“Yannick told us that he too had never experienced anything like it,” said Houdet. “I was saying, ‘you’re too nice, you don’t need to say that – you’ve won Davis Cup, Roland Garros and so many things’.
View this post on Instagram
“But he was honestly saying it was different. He said the difference was that when you play at Roland Garros the people are really concerned with the score and when there is a mistake you can feel their disappointment.
“At the Paras, they didn’t care about the score, they were supporting, dancing, clapping and smiling, asking for photos and signatures – anything to be a part of the Games. The ball is now in the court of Los Angeles.”
Given Houdet's age and the fact it was a home Games, many had assumed – wrongly as it happens – that Paris 2024 could be his Paralympic swansong. Houdet, however, has no plans to close the door on his Paralympic career.
“I will keep playing,” he added. “I have in my mind Los Angeles in 2028 and in my mind, because I love Australia so much, Brisbane in 2032 when I will be in my sixties.
"I am still having fun and working with innovations. I am also still competitive, so as long as there are no injuries, I want to continue playing.
“Also, Yannick rang me the other night and said that he wanted to stay with the French wheelchair team and that is massive. That was a real highlight of Paris, and you could see other teams were jealous.
“We had many training camps with him, and you could see why he was famous. It was very special."
Houdet's appetite for wheelchair tennis is both insatiable and infectious – long may it continue. Age, after all, is just a number.