The first official Paralympics were held in 1960 and known as the Stoke Mandeville Games (after the hospital of the same name). The Paralympics were originally reserved for wheelchair-bound athletes. The program was expanded in 1976 to include competitors with other disabilities (amputations, visual...
And he plans to keep pursuing his athlete goals. He wants to complete the Abbott Six-the world's six largest marathons. One day, he said, he'll maybe even make the Paralympics. For those who might be following his journey, he hopes they will take some lessons from his story. “There...
After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletics have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletics and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin. These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability. Bu...
Our chart showsnew additionssince 1984 that have stuck around – some reflecting new trends in sporting, while others were added by host countries trying to highlight their strong points. In the flair of the 1980s, artistic swimming and rhythmic gymnastics introduced colorful outfits and contemporar...
Fair, safe and inclusive sport requires stratification. Combat sports delineate by weight class. Youth sports stratify by chronological age. And, traditionally, all sports, including the Paralympics, have prioritized categorization by sex, given men’s inherent athletic advantages of size, strength, spe...