Paralympics: History and Reasons for Separation from the Olympics
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30 August 2024 07:24 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games officially opened on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. local time. French President Emmanuel Macron declared the event open in a ceremony at the Place de la Concorde, Tempo reported.
A total of 4,400 athletes from 168 delegations took part in the opening parade. In addition, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons expressed his hope that the Games would mark the beginning of an "inclusion revolution".
But what exactly are the Paralympics? Are they the same as the Olympic Games, which just concluded in Paris on August 11, 2024? Read on to learn more about the Paralympics and its history.
Early History of the Paralympics
Before we get into the history, let's define Paralympic; what is it? According to the International Paralympic Committee, the word "Paralympic" comes from the Greek preposition para, which means "beside" or "alongside," and the word Olympic.
This means that the Paralympics are the parallel games to the Olympics. Britannica added, "The Paralympic Games are essentially international sports competitions for disabled athletes.
When it comes to sports for athletes with an impairment, it is not unique to the 21st century. In fact, it has been around since 1888, when the first sports clubs for the deaf were formed.
On the other hand, the origins of the Paralympic Games can be traced back to 1948, specifically to July 29. At that time, a German-born English neurologist, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, organized a sports competition for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries.
The competition, then known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, named after the location of the event, featured 16 injured servicemen and women competing in archery and netball.
The success of these games sparked a movement, and in 1952, competitors from the Netherlands joined the event. Over the following decades, the Stoke Mandeville Games grew in size and scope, eventually leading to the first official Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960.
These games featured 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then, the event has been held every four years.
The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden in 1976. Similar to the Summer Games, the Winter Games have been held every four years since then, with an opening and closing ceremony.
Finally, on September 22, 1989, a specific organization was established to act as the governing body of the Paralympics. It was the International Paralympic, an international non-profit organization based in Düsseldorf, Germany.
