Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Which celebrities are in attendance for the Games?

Klopp has been friends with Czyz for more than 20 years, with the pair having first met at a charity football match where Czyz was recovering from a knee injury he suffered while playing football that led to his left leg being amputated.

Rather than let his amputation restrict his athletic ambitions, Czyz would establish himself as one of the most successful track & field athletes in the T/F42 class for above-knee amputees, winning seven Paralympic medals (including four golds) while representing Germany.

After 12 years away from the Paralympics – five of which saw the 44-year-old sail around the world and help amputees in remote places get prosthetics – Czyz is back at the Games (now representing New Zealand) competing in a new sport, and Klopp is there to cheer him on.”It was great, I enjoyed all five points,” Klopp said, after watching Czyz lose 21-5, 21-2 to Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Bethell.

“Unfortunately, he played against one of the best in the world, so it didn’t make life easier. But I could enjoy each second.

“The stories behind (Paralympic) athletes are always special and the one of my friend here (Czyz) is super special. That’s the only difference really. That’s what I love about sports, that it can change the world. Sometimes only for a moment and sometimes forever.

“In the Paralympic movement, there are obviously more hurdles to overcome (than at the Olympic Games), to show the young people and everyone what is possible. Whatever life has put in the hands for you, it is how you deal with it (that matters). It’s super inspiring and I’m fully inspired by everything I’ve seen in the past few days.”