PARIS, France — The excitement in Paris is on pause as they prepare for the Paralympics. In two weeks, hundreds of Paralympians will be competing on the world stage, including 10 people from Minnesota.
And Paralympians don't want to lose the fun momentum from the Olympic Games. It's why Minnesota's Chuck Aoki shared this video on Instagram.
"I have never seen such a large excitement for the Paralympics from people who haven't seen it before," Aoki said.
That might be credited to strong social media and television campaigns advertising and raising awareness of the Games, including help from the gymnastics GOAT herself.
Aoki has already won several Paralympic medals but says the competition for wheelchair rugby is looking tough this year because the popularity has grown globally. Australia is ranked No. 1 in the world and USA is ranked 2nd.
"We have kind of re-worked a lot of the things we do on the team," Aoki said. "It's going to be a battle to get there but we feel we have the team to bring home gold."
For the first time ever, Peacock will be livestreaming all the Paralympic events.
The fun starts August 28.
Read about the Minnesota Paralympians here.