Our history
One of the leading pre-World War II neurologists in Germany, Guttmann worked at the Jewish Hospital in Breslau until 1939, when he was forced to flee to England.
In 1944, Guttmann was asked by the British government to found the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury. Guttmann believed sport was an essential part of the rehabilitation programmes of his patients, using it to help build physical strength and self-respect.
In 1948 the first ever wheelchair games took place, and became known as the Stoke Mandeville Games. In 1952 competitors from the Netherlands took part in the competition, giving an international notion to the movement. The Stoke Mandeville Games continued to grow impressing Olympics officials and the international community.
In 1960, the Olympics were held in Rome, and Guttmann brought 400 wheelchair athletes to the Olympic city to compete. Although officially called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, the Paralympics were born. The first Winter Paralympics were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1976.
From those early days a World-wide sports movement has developed for not only those with spinal injuries but also many other different types of disability.
In 1984 the Stoke Mandeville centre played host to the Paralympic Games with some 1200 athletes taking part in a festival of sport.
Since 1988, the Summer Paralympics have been held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in the same host city and this practice was adopted in 1992 for the Winter Paralympics.
The name Paralympics derives from the Greek "para" ("beside" or "alongside") and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games. No relation with paralysis or paraplegia was intended.
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