Paralympic athlete who had heart attack at Tokyo 2020 makes emotional return to games

Joachim Gerard was Belgium’s flagbearer at the Paris Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday, 28 August, three years after suffering a heart attack.

The wheelchair tennis athlete had competed in the men’s singles and doubles tournaments at Tokyo 2020 before the medical emergency in the Paralympic Village.

Gerard had a defibrillator fitted while in Japan before returning to Belgium.

He joined dressage rider Manon Claeys to carry the Belgian flag through the streets of Paris for the opening celebrations as thousands of athletes made their way down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.