Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games take place once every four years (with a Winter Games two years after each summer edition of the Games) in the same city and year as the Olympic Games. They are an elite multi-sport event for athletes with a disability and are a direct "parallel" to the Olympic Games - hence the name.

TORINO 2006 WINTER PARALYMPIC GAMES

BRITISH PARALYMPIC ASSOCIATION

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) is responsible for selecting, preparing, entering, funding and managing Britain' s teams at the Paralympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games. The invitation to participate in the Paralympic Games is to the BPA as the National Paralympic Committee for Great Britain.

BPA was established in 1989. At the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul representation from Great Britain was organised by an ad-hoc multi-disability committee. It was later decided that a more permanent organisation was needed to undertake such a huge task. Today, the role of the British Paralympic Association has grown immensely and as well as sending teams to each Paralympic Games, the British Paralympic Association now provide support services to elite Paralympic Squads.

For more information on BPA visit their Website or contact:

British Paralympic Association
40 Bernard Street
London WC1N 1ST
Tel: +44 (0)20 7211 5222
Fax: +44 (0)20 7211 5233

INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the international representative organisation of elite sports for athletes with disabilities. IPC organises, supervises and co-ordinates the Paralympic Games and other multi-disability competitions on elite sports level, of which the most important are world and regional championships. It is an international non-profit organisation formed and run by 160 National Paralympic Committees and 5 disability specific international sports federations.

Whereas other international sports organisations for athletes with a disability are either limited to one disability group or to one specific sport, the IPC - as an umbrella organisation - represents all sports and disabilities .The national sports organisations, which created IPC are convinced that the future of disability sport lies in bringing together athletes with different handicaps to hold joint competitions.

For more information on IPC visit their Website

HISTORY OF THE PARALYMPIC GAMES

Great Britain can boast that proud heritage for the Paralympic Games and over 50 years ago Dr Ludwig Guttmann, an eminent neurologist, began using sport as part of the rehabilitation of spinal cord injured patients from the Second World War at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England.

In 1948 Guttmann initiated a competition between sports clubs and other hospitals to coincide with the 1948 Olympic Games being held in London that year. Since that time the Games have developed beyond the initially exclusive participation of the spinally injured to incorporate many different types of disability.

Nowadays both Summer and Winter Paralympic Games are the pinnacle for international competitions for world class athletes with a disability. Linked to the Olympic Games the Paralympics are held every two years and athletes must meet strict qualifying standards in order to compete.

At the Paralympic Games in Sydney, in 2000, four thousand athletes participated from 125 countries.

Summer Games Venues
Beijing 2008
Athens 2004
Sydney 2000
Atlanta 1996
Barcelona 1992
Seoul 1988
Stoke Mandeville 1984
New York 1984

Winter Games Venues
Turin 2006
Salt Lake City 2002
Nagano 1998
Lillehammer 1994
Tignes 1992
Innsbruck 1988
Innsbrck 1984
Geilo 1980
Omskoldsvik 1976

Paralympic Games

ATHENS 2004 – THE XII PARALYMPIC SUMMER GAMES

Other 2004 Paralympic Games Websites:
ITF Wheelchair Tennis

Athens 2004 Paralympic Medal Table