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The first Games for athletes with a disability were held in 1948 in Stoke
Mandeville, England. On the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic
Games in London, the Stoke Mandeville Games were launched and the first
competition organized for wheelchair athletes was officiated by Sir Ludwig
Guttmann. Four years later, athletes from the Netherlands joined the Games;
thus the international movement, now known as the Paralympic movement, was
born.
Olympic style Games for athletes with a disability were organised for the
first time in Rome in 1960, immediately after the Olympic Games. They are
considered the first Paralympic Games. About 400 athletes from 23 countries
competed in 8 sports, 6 of which are still included in the Paralympic
Competition Programme (Archery, Swimming, Fencing, Basketball, Table tennis
and Athletics). Since then Paralympic Games have been organised every four
years. The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the
Olympic Games.
Other disability groups were added in Toronto in 1976 and the idea was
conceived of merging together different disability groups for international
sport competitions. In 1988, the Seoul Paralympic Summer Games marked a
significant change, as both Olympic and Paralympic Games were held at the
same venues. Since then the Paralympic Games have always taken place at the
same venues as the Olympic Games.
Since 1960 the Paralympic Games have evolved into a major sports event,
second only to the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Paralympic games held in
Sydney, Australia, an agreement was signed between International Olympic
Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to merge the
bidding process for the host city of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic
Games. The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games will be the first Games held under
the agreement. |
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