While Paralympians have redefined the limits of sports time and time again, many who tuned in to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics will have already switched their brains off until LA 2028 due to the misinformed belief that the Paralympic Games are less impressive. 

Orange, the premium partner of the Paris 2024 Games and an advocate for sports inclusivity, wants to change that mindset by highlighting times when Paralympians achieved faster times than their Olympic counterparts. 

The When You Love Sport, You Love Sport campaign, created by Publicis Conseil, replays the men’s T13 1500m final at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games alongside the earlier Olympic equivalent to show it’s hard to tell the difference. Side by side, the athletes coolly anticipate the run ahead before pacing into a fiercely competitive race with only one champion (one being slightly faster than the other). 

But Rio 2016 wasn’t the only time Paralympians have outrun Olympians. Four para-athletes so far have achieved a better time than the Olympic champion. 

Orange is making a name for itself in the realm of inclusivity in sports. The telecom provider previously worked with ad agency Marcel on WoMen’s Football, a film that tricked viewers into believing they were watching the male French squad with VFX to prove the women’s game is equally impressive. It took home two Grand Prix awards at the recent Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024. 

Credits:
Agency: Publicis Conseil
CCO: Marco Venturelli
Creative Directors: Romulus Petcan and Gabriel Gherca
Art Director: Vincent Teffene
Copywriter: Antonin Jacquot
Production: Prodigious
Head of Production: Olivier Guillou