With the Paralympic Games in Paris set to get underway next week, we’re looking at the origins of the competition.
What started as a rehabilitation effort for veterans after World War II, has become a global celebration of human achievement, giving a platform for athletes with disabilities to showcase their talent on the world stage.
The first official Paralympic Games took place in Rome, in 1960, but the event can be traced back further than that. Their real origin lies in Stoke Mandeville, in England, and with a man called Dr. Ludwig Guttmann. Guttman was born and raised in Germany, but as a Jew he faced persecution when the Nazis took power. He eventually escaped to England on the eve of the Second World War, arriving in Oxford in March 1939.
Guttman continued his work in the UK, specializing in spinal cord injuries that he was researching during the first few years of the war. In 1944, the British government asked Guttmann to open a spinal injuries center at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Here, the foundation for the Paralympics were laid. What started first as sports for rehabilitation, became sports for recreation, and by 1948, with the war over, the inaugural Stoke-Mandeville Games were held.
The first edition coincided with the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games. Sixteen injured servicemen and women, all wheelchair-bound, took part in an archery competition. By 1952, injured Dutch veterans joined and the Stoke Mandeville Games were now international.
By the time the Paralympic Games were officially held in 1960, 400 athletes from 23 countries travelled to Rome to compete. The games have been held every four years since then. The first Winter Games in Paralympic history were held in Sweden in 1976. Both events hold opening and closing ceremonies.
Since the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in 1988, and the Winter Games in Albertville, France in 1992, the Olympics and Paralympics have always been held in the same cities. Starting in Seoul, the Paralympics also used the same facilities as the Olympics, meaning athletes could compete in front of far larger audiences.
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In 1989, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was established in Germany. The word “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic”.
By this time, the Paralympics had already expanded massively within the scope of competition – as well as spinal cord injuries, they had grown to accommodate a wider range of disabilities, including visual and hearing impairments and amputations – but the IPC helped increase sponsorships and television coverage. This was evident by the Barcelona games in 1992, where a record number of spectators attended the Paralympics.
As the games have moved into the 21st century, their popularity has continued to grow. Millions of people attend the Paralympic games in person, with billions more watching on around the world.
Dr. Ludwig Guttman, for his part, received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 1960. He would attend more of the Paralympic Games as they grew, before he passed away from a heart attack in 1979.
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