Silver 2004
The 'Paralympic Games' are a multi-sport event for
athletes with physical, mental and sensorial disabilities. This includes mobility disabilities,
amputees,
visual disabilities and those with
cerebral palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, following the
Olympic Games, and are governed by the
International Paralympic Committee (IPC). (The Paralympic Games are sometimes confused with the
Special Olympics, which are only for people with
intellectual disabilities.)
The name derives from the
Greek "para" ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the
Olympic Games. No relation with
paralysis or
paraplegia is intended, however, the word Paralympic was originally a pun combining 'paraplegic' and 'Olympic'.
[1]
History
Sir
Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition in
1948 which became known as the
Stoke Mandeville Games, involving
World War II veterans with
spinal cord injuries; in
1952 competitors from the
Netherlands took part in the competition, giving an international notion to the movement. The first Olympic-style games for athletes with a disability were held in
Rome in
1960; officially called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, these are considered to be the first Paralympic Games.
[2] The first Winter Paralympics were held in
Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in
1976.
[3]
Since 1988, the Summer Paralympics have been held in the conjunction with the
Olympic Games in the same host city. This practice was adopted in 1992 for the Winter Paralympics, and became an official policy of the
International Olympic Committee and the IPC following a
June 19,
2001 agreement. The Games take place three weeks after the closing of the Olympics, in the same host city and using the same facilities. Cities bidding to host the Olympic Games must include the Paralympic Games in their bid, and typically both Games are now run by a single organizing committee.
In the
1996 Atlanta Games athletes with
intellectual disabilities were allowed to participate for the first time.
Cheating controversies
Main articles: Cheating at the Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games have seen damaging scandals regarding cheating in the events. The
2000 Sydney Games, in which non-disabled athletes were entered in the
Spanish Basketball ID team
[4], athletes with intellectual difficulties were banned by the IPC
[5]. The IPC has stated that it will re-evaluate their participation following the
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
[6]
Summer Games
Summer sports
The following sports are currently on the Summer Paralympic Games programme:
★
Archery
★
Athletics (
track and field)
★
Boccia
★
Cycling
★
Equestrian
★
Football 5-a-side
★
Football 7-a-side
★
Goalball
★
Judo
★
Powerlifting
★
Rowing
★
Sailing
★
Shooting
★
Swimming
★
Table Tennis
★
Volleyball (sitting)
★
Wheelchair basketball
★
Wheelchair fencing
★
Wheelchair rugby
★
Wheelchair tennis
These sports will be part of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.
The following sports are not included in the Summer Paralympic Games programme, but are governed by the IPC:
★
Bowls
★
Wheelchair dance sport
Winter Games
Main articles: Paralympic sports
Winter sports
The following sports are on the current Winter Paralympic Games programme:
★
Alpine skiing
★
Ice sledge hockey
★
Nordic skiing
★
★
Biathlon
★
★
Cross-country skiing
★
Wheelchair curling
Disability categories
★ Amputee: An athlete with a partial or total loss of at least one
limb.
★ Cerebral Palsy: People who have non-progressive
brain damage, for example
cerebral palsy,
traumatic brain injury,
stroke or a similar problem affecting muscle control,
balance or
coordination.
★ Intellectual Disability: An athlete who has a significant impairment in intellectual functioning with associated limitations in adaptive behaviour. This category is currently suspended.
★ Wheelchair: For all athletes with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities which require them to compete in a
wheelchair. Athletes must have at least 10 per cent loss of function to their lower limbs.
★ Vision-Impaired: Athletes who have a
vision impairment ranging from partial vision (sufficient to be judged
legally blind) to total
blindness.
★ ''Les Autres'':
French for ''the others'' and includes competitors with a
mobility impairment or other loss of physical function that does not fall strictly under one of the other five categories.
Dwarfism,
multiple sclerosis or birth
deformities of the limbs such as that caused by
thalidomide are examples of this.
The categories apply for both summer and winter paralympics.
Notes
The IPC has set up
national Paralympic Games for competitions organized under the national Paralympic Committees.
External links
★
Official Canadian Website
★
Official IPC Website
★
IMNO Interviews Curt Brinkman Five-time Paralympic Gold Medallist
★
CBC Digital Archives - Playing to Win: Canada at the Paralympics
See also
★
Deaflympics
★
Disabled sports
★
Special Olympics
References
★
International Paralympic Committee
★
Australian Paralympic Committee - Classification System
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
