Whisper it quietly but Bermuda could be set to break new ground at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The country has yet to win a medal at the prestigious event but in sprinter Jessica Lewis and boccia player Yushae DeSilva-Andrade, there are two live medal chances in the coming days.

With the opening ceremony set to take place in the French capital tomorrow, Bermuda Paralympic Association president Ann Lindroth is on hand in Paris as the excitement grows at the prospect of seeing the island’s first medal-winner.

“We’ve never had a medal but both our girls stand a chance of getting a medal and that would be really something,” Lindroth said.

“Jessica recently broke something [T53 100 metres Americas record] that had stood for 27 years and there is nobody on our side of the Atlantic that can beat her. But when we get to these big games where you get Australia, the UK and China, for example, then all of a sudden it’s no guarantee.

“Jessica is ranked fourth or fifth in her division in the world and Yushae is ranked fourth. She stands a chance if she can hold it together and not get too excited because it’s such a strategic game that involves skill and luck.”

When DeSilva-Andrade begins her competition on Thursday, she will continue Bermuda’s record of fielding at least one athlete at the Games since participating for the first time in Atlanta in 1996 and that is an achievement Lindroth is proud of.

“We are so proud that we have managed to field at least one athlete at every one of the Games,” Lindroth said.

“We started with equestrian until 2012 and then Jessica Lewis first started with Yushae coming on board in Rio 2016. That is quite an achievement and I’m totally proud to do it because we are just so tiny.”

Lindroth has been at all eight Paralympics with Bermuda representation and is keen to sing the praises of Paris after arriving in France last week

“It’s all going very smoothly but it’s a lot of work, running around from pillar to post,” Lindroth said.

“But we are very happy to always be the second group of people to do this as we figure they get all the kinks ironed out from the Olympic Games before we arrive.

“This is my eighth Games, I started at Atlanta in 1996 and so far everything is the best. The accommodation at the Olympic Village is better than anything else I’ve seen. London [2012] was good, but our selection in London involved a lot of stairs and running outside to another apartment, so what they have done here is amazing.”

Lindroth is probably closer to her athletes and their support staff than presidents at other Olympic associations and feels that the inclusivity of the Games is something that Bermuda can aspire to.

“Of course watching your own people is great but you almost have to be a counsellor because there are ups and downs, things go wrong, and there’s always something going on,” Lindroth said.

“I’ve found you almost need a degree in psychology but what para sport does for the confidence of the person with the disability is that they are accepted as who they are and respected as they are.

“The other part is the integration of people with all sorts of disabilities into the everyday world and everyday play, that should not be a big thing. During the Paralympics in that village, you see everything and everyone is positive. They are not there as a person with a disability, they are there as an athlete.”

Bermuda’s athletes can play an important part in inspiring the younger generation and Lindroth feels Lewis and DeSilva-Andrade are the perfect ambassadors for para sport.

“Role models are very important,” Lindroth said.

“Many years ago there was a physio who worked with Friendship Vale, Sandra Thornhill, and she worked with a young boy with spina bifida and he had no role models and people to aspire to that show him how far he can go.

“We started doing some things and we gave him role models and took him to Beijing. That’s the role Paralympian Sandy Mitchell played for Jessica and hopefully Jessica and Yushae will provide that for younger aspiring athletes.

“Jessica has become a poster name in Bermuda, which is wonderful. She’s so personable and speaks so well. She’s excellent and others will hopefully realise that they, in their own way and in whatever sport they might be interested in, can do the same.

“Troy Farnsworth, who helps to coach Yushae, is here with us in Paris and he works in the school system in adaptive PE. He theoretically will bump into, meet and teach people with disabilities in the school system and we can then approach them.Troy said yesterday there is a young boy in the school system aged just 6 being introduced to boccia.”

While progress has been made, Lindroth still feels more can be done to help people with disabilities.

“There is a national policy on disability and I was part of the committee that wrote it,” Lindroth said.

“It is broad, inclusive and gives the footprint to follow but it has never been taken further into law. The policy is good and has education, transport, work in it, but somebody has to take it on.”