History of the Paralympic Games

It all started with Sir Ludwig Guttmann. Born in 1899 in Upper Silesia, the Jewish neurologist was forced to flee National Socialist Germany in 1939 after having been dismissed as head physician in Breslau. On behalf of the British government, Guttmann founded a special clinic for spinal injuries.

Guttmann believed in the power of sport for those with a physical disability. At first, he concentrated on war veterans returning with serious injuries that made them wheelchair bound. Even though his focus was on medical rehabilitation, he also believed in the joy of competition to build physical strength and self-confidence.

At the same time as the 1948 Olympic Games in London, the “Stoke Mandeville Games” were organised in Aylesbury in the south of England. On the grounds of the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, 16 wheelchair-bound sportsmen competed in an archery contest. From then on the competition was known – thanks to the location – as the “Stoke Mandeville Games” and became the precursor to the Paralympic Games.

The first milestone was reached in 1960 when the Games relocated to Rome and were – later – upgraded to the first “Paralympic Games” which attracted 400 athletes from 23 nations. Since then, the Games have been held every four years. Amputees and visually-impaired athletes competed for the first time in Toronto (Canada) in 1976 whilst athletes suffering from cerebral palsy followed in 1980. Then in 1998, athletes with an intellectual impairment competed for the first time in Nagano (Japan).