The Paralympic Games

The Paralympic games have become a major sporting event that thousands of sportsmen and women compete in. The athletes who compete in these games will have a mental or physical disability ranging from amputations, blindness and Cerebral Palsy. Every single competitor is there because of their talents and amazing abilities. Wheelchair sports have come a long way since the humble beginnings of this competition.

Unknown to a huge amount of people there are in fact two of these events, both a summer and a winter event following the respective Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games originated in 1948 was a sports competition organized for World War II Veterans. It grew from a very small gathering to one of the largest sports events in the world. Four years after it all began competitors from the Netherlands joined them. It took until 1960 for Olympic style games to be included in the event, and in Rome that year the event was christened the Paralympics.

When the games reached Toronto in 1975 there were more events than simply wheelchair sports. It was decided to include more events, and begin a winter Paralympic Games. The first ever winter games was held in Sweden in 1976, and became the starting point for more events. Although these games were held every four years it was decided alongside the other Winter Olympics they would hold it in even numbered years. The events that are included in the winter Paralympics are wheelchair curling, sledge hockey, Alpine Skiing and cross country skiing.

The competitors who compete in the Paralympic Games are recognized for their amazing talents and abilities, and not for their disabilities. The numbers that now compete in the games have risen from a impressive 400 from 23 different countries to an incredible 3,591 from 146 countries. Although there are still many different wheelchair sports, the huge variety of disabilities means that the events have been split into categories.

There are six main broad categories that every single competitor competes under. These six groups are Cerebral Palsy, amputees, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired and then a group simply called others. The categories are then broken down further depending on the degree of the disability that the competitor has. There have been many amazing milestones for the Paralympic Games over the years. The organizers and committee members have fought hard and long to ensure that these games were recognized alongside the Olympic Games. In 2001 a contract was signed stating that every country that hosted the Olympics had to host the Paralympics as well.

The Paralympic Games charter states clearly that the practice of sport is a human right, and the organizers and competitors have ensured that this is maintained. The committee wants to change public opinion on disabled people, and show them that they are just like everyone else in the world.

Although the two Olympic Games should be side by side in all things including media coverage and funding, however, this is still not the case. Hopefully with more interest and greater awareness that these amazing events are far more than simply wheelchair sports, the Paralympic Games will continue to go from strength to strength.

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