Olympics Integrating the Paralympic Athletes

What are the Paralympic Games?

Meaning: an individual with a disability is a sporting activity whose policies have been adapted so that persons can play it with a physical or sensory special needs. Sports practiced by individuals with mental specials needs are called adjusted games. Much of these sports are based upon existing games. However, some sporting activities have been created, especially for persons with specials needs, and do not have a valid sport matching.

The international sport for persons with a special needs movement originated in the recovery of Professionals of the 2nd World War. 55,000 Canadians were wounded during the battle.

Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a German physician, thought that sport had restorative worth (for the objective of recovery) and also might promote social combination. The center was founded in 1944 to obtain the wounded from the 2nd front.

    • 1948: the initial competition occurred in England, known as the Stoke Mandeville Games
  • 1952: the variety of participating nations is boosting. It’s the beginning of motion.
  • 1960: for the first time, the competitors were influenced by the Olympic Games, called the Paralympic Games.
  • 1968: in Tel Aviv (Israel), a delegation of 22 mobility device professional athletes measures 750 athletes from 29 countries.
  • Canada has always participated in the Paralympic Games.
  • 1976: in Toronto, Canada, amputees with an impairment can participate in the ready the first time.

Dr. Robert F. Jackson will end up being the creator of the Canadian Paralympic Board. Development is being made through Canada, which has significantly transformed Canadians’ understanding of the adapted sport. The government is beginning to provide financing for professional athletes with an impairment.

  • 1993: athletes with a handicap take part in the Canada Games. A specifying event.
  • Nation Canada ends up being a member of the Canadian Paralympic Board. This is the very first sporting activities federation to do so yet not the last
  • The European Union had determined in December 2001 that 2003 would undoubtedly be the European Year of People with specials needs.

History of the Paralympic Games

  • The beginnings of the Paralympic Games – Ludwig Guttmann and the Paralympic experience

The summertime Paralympic Games were the 2nd most significant sporting occasion in the world in 2004, the biggest being the Olympic Games. Over a relatively brief period, the Winter Paralympic Games have established themselves as a significant occasion on the Olympic calendar. The Winter Paralympic Games started in 1976 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. However, the principle is much older.

The Paralympic Games made their modest start simply over 50 years earlier at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Eynesbury, England. The origins of sports games for individuals with impairments can be mapped back to World War II and also are the outcome of the initiatives of Ludwig Guttmann, an English physician.

Referred to as “Father of sport for individuals with a disability,” Dr. Guttmann was a solid supporter for making use of sports treatment to boost the lifestyle of people that were injured or wounded throughout the Second World War.

Dr. Guttmann organized the 1948 International Wheelchair Games to coincide with the 1948 Olympic Games in London. He dreamed of a global sports competition for people with an impairment, which would undoubtedly be held every four years as an “Olympic equivalence” Twelve years later on, his dream happened.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, Italy, in 1960 and combined 400 professional athletes from 23 nations. Initially, only mobility device athletes were welcomed to take part in the competition. Since then, the Paralympic Games have expanded remarkably. The present Paralympic Games consist of 6 major categories of professional athletes: individuals with visual impairments, persons with physical disabilities, amputees, individuals with cerebral palsy, individuals with a spine injury, as well as various other professional athletes with handicaps not consisted of in the above categories (e.g., individuals with muscle dystrophy).

Summer and Winter Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games are kept in two periods: summertime and also wintertime. Athletes with an impairment compete in the Winter Paralympic Games since 1976.
Sweden has organized the very first Winter Paralympics Games, including 12 countries in Alpine and cross-country winter sports occasions.
The Paralympic Games and the Olympic Games began at various times of the year, but in 1992 things altered. Today, the Paralympic Games, as well as the Olympic Games, are held every two weeks in the very same facilities, and also are organized by the same committee.
Sir Ludwig Guttmann died in 1980. However, his vision of sporting activity for professional athletes with a disability continues. The value of sport in the lives of professional athletes with a disability exceeds the benefits of rehabilitation.

So 1948 was the year of the London Olympics thanks to the doctor. It was the first game of Stoke-Mandeville; they were a real success!

The Paralympic motto is: “Mind, Body, Spirit.”

The Paralympic Games repeat a lot of the “rituals” of the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games have an opening as well as closing ceremony, mascots, a Paralympic flame, etc.

The Paralympic logo is comprised of rings that were initially replaced by five broad, bent commas: one blue, one red, one black, one environment-friendly as well as one yellow.