What is the origin of the Paralympic Games? Learn the history of this important sporting event

Sport for athletes with disabilities has existed for over 100 years, and The first sports clubs for people with hearing disabilities already existed in 1888. in Berlin (Germany).

However, it was not until after the World War II when sport grew among people with disabilities. At that time, the goal was bring sport closer to the large number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during the competition and had acquired a physical disability, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) explains on its website.

In 1944, at the request of the British government, the German neurologist Ludwig Guttmann opened a spinal cord injury centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, Great Britain. Over time, he sport from rehabilitation evolved into recreational and then into competitive sport.

He July 29, 1948On the opening day of the London Olympic Games that same year, Dr. Guttmann organized the First competition for wheelchair athletes (with 16 ex-military personnel participating in an archery test), which he called Stoke Mandeville Gamesa milestone in Paralympic history.

In 1952, former Dutch military personnel joined the British competition, creating the Stoke Mandeville International Games, the event’s official website explains.

These first initiatives were the antecedent of what would later become the Paralympic Gameswhich They were celebrated for the first time officially in Rome (Italy) in 1960, with the participation of 400 athletes from 23 countries.

Since then, they have been held every four years, like the Olympic Games. 1976took place in Sweden on first Winter Paralympic Games in history and, like the Summer Games, are also held every four years.

Since the Summer Games in Seoul (South Korea) in 1988 and the Winter Games in Albertville (France) in 1992, the Paralympic Games have also are celebrated in the same cities and venues for the Olympic Gamesdue to an agreement between the IPC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), explains the Encyclopedia Britannica (a platform for general knowledge and education).