Nuts & Bolts

Over the years, much has contributed to the making of the present-day Paralympic Games.

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It’s estimated that 1.6 million tickets will be sold for the London 2012 Paralympics (August 29–September 9), with more than 80,000 spectators expected each day at the  events. To date, the Games have already outdone all prior Paralympics in ticket sales, and many events are expecting to completely sell out.

The history of the Paralympics goes back to 1948, when, following World War II, paralyzed veterans had their first “Games” organized by Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a neurologist from a hospital in Stoke Mandeville, England. He started the event as part of his patients’ rehabilitation.

For years, Guttmann worked to tie his wheelchair competition to the Olympics. In 1960, the first official Paralympic Games following the Olympic format took place, in Rome. Sports were limited to wheelchair users with spinal injuries.

During the 2008 Beijing Games, Stephanie Wheeler and Team USA celebrate the second consecutive gold medal for the U.S. Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team.

Beginning in 1976 in Toronto, athletes with other physical disabilities such as visual impairments and cerebral palsy joined the competition (the latter in 1984). This was the first Summer Paralympics open to athletes with other disabilities. By 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, the Paralympics began following the Olympic Games in the same city and using the same venues. This was also where the term “Paralympic” began to signify that these elite athletes were competing “alongside” their Olympic counterparts.

This was an historic accomplishment for the progression of Paralympic sport, although it still struggles for equal media coverage and funding. In 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) joined with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) through an agreement that remains formalized today and governs the Paralympic Games.

Today’s Paralympics cover six categories: wheelchair, amputee, visually impaired, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, and Les Autres (French for “the others”—disabilities that do not fall under the previous categories, such as congenital deformities, multiple sclerosis and dwarfism).

The early Stoke Mandeville Games are considered the origins of today’s Paralympic Games. “Mandeville”  (along with Wenlock) is one of the two official mascots for the upcoming Games in London. Mandeville and Wenlock are drops of steel, painted by the rainbow.

Stoke Mandeville is also a village and civil parish but falls within an urban area in the same county where, ironically, the first Paralympic Games took place.

From the Rome 1960 Games that involved a mere 400 competitors to the upcoming London event with an expected 4,200 athletes, the Paralympic movement continues to head forward and create superb opportunities for top athletes with disabilities. More than 100 countries are scheduled to participate across the six disability categories.

Check out the complete article in the January 2012 issue of S'NS.

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