Last Sunday, he left the aisles of Roland-Garros and the France television sets for the Mouratoglou Academy in Biot.
Very close to Nice, Michael Jeremiasz leads the world's largest wheelchair tennis tournament (after the 4 Grand Slams).
Not without a certain pride.
"The best in the world are happy to be there and to continue with Roland Garros, and we are all the more happy that the finals (Saturday and Sunday) will be broadcast on the antennas of Canal +", points out the Paralympic champion in doubles in Beijing in 2008.
Two years from the Games in Paris, the challenge is considerable.
“Things are moving in the right direction around disabled sport, we feel a growing mobilization of the media, he believes.
In the past, the wheelchair tournament at Roland-Garros was played on the adjoining courts and was broadcast digitally. This year, it was a pleasure to comment on matches live from Le Chatrier on France 4. France Télévisions, which will be broadcasting the Games , did not want to wait until 2024 to promote disabled sport.
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"We're not just guys playing ass in an armchair"
Within the Organizing Committee of the Games, Michael Jeremiasz is pushing for the Paralympic Games to initiate a real shift around disability.
His tournament, which has been played in Nice for 6 years, is not only based on performance.
“Our message is to trivialize disability,” he insists.
"We are not just guys who play the ass in an armchair, we are top athletes," he adds.
Read alsoMy wheelchair tennis lesson with Michaël Jeremiasz
So this week, at the Mouratoglou Academy, the classes follow one another.
The children come to try wheelchair tennis.
“It's the children who will help change the way people look at people with disabilities because unlike adults, for them, disability is not a subject, they trivialize difference.
They do not come to see disabled people play tennis, but champions, ”said the former tennis player.
Solidarity, respect, sharing, fight against discrimination... So many values that we share with MGEN, partner of @FrenchRivieraOp 🤝@MGENetvous @groupe_mgen pic.twitter.com/DjQ1SxBjaJ
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Conferences are organized with the sponsors.
On the theme of hospitality, Michael Jeremiasz is also cash.
“We don't do events for events, we are not in the boxes with petit fours-champagne, he says, laughing.
Our sponsors are also asking for conferences to raise their employees' awareness of disability.
As the champion knows, the prospect of the Games in France facilitates relations with partners.
“Especially since they now want to give meaning to their sponsorship and since disability is a real social issue.
With his tournament, Michael Jeremiasz feels he has “created a useful tool to move the debate forward.
“And he intends to go even further through a punchy documentary “We Are People”, which shows how, over the centuries, sport has changed the lives of people with disabilities and which will soon be broadcast on Canal +.
