Introduction to Paralympics
The first organized disabled sports games were held in 1948 in Stoke Mandeville, England. Sir Ludwig Guttmann invited World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries to participate in these games. What started in England soon became an international event.Today, the Paralympic Games are held the same year as the Olympic Games and take place in the same city. The Paralympic Games offer elite sporting events for athletes from six disability groups. Like the Olympics, the Paralympics have both summer and winter games. There are 18 Paralympic summer sports and three Paralympic winter sports.
This fact sheet was last updated on 12-16-2005.
The information provided in this website was supported by Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number U59/CCU522742-02 from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).