Less than 600 days before the opening of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the United States is picking up the pace. The American Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announces that it has entered into a cooperation agreement with the NCAA – the university sports organization – to boost the promotion of the best disabled sports athletes in the United States. In particular, the two parties plan to organize several new events highlighting the Paralympic disciplines and their athletes, including a wheelchair basketball All Star Game, and a varsity 100 meter wheelchair race at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. It is also anticipated that the University Wheelchair Tennis Championships will now be played as part of the NCAA Division I Valid Tennis Championships. According to the latest statistics, more than half of the athletes on the U.S. Paralympic team at the Tokyo 2020 Games had competed collegiately in 14 sports. With this agreement, the USOPC and the NCAA hope that the Paralympic movement will experience the same progression as women's sport in the United States. Both organizations explained that women's practice exploded to the highest level after being integrated into university athletic departments.
