The Paralympics
Friday 12 September 2008
The Paralympic Games take place once every four years and the Winter Games take place two years after each summer edition of the Games.
The Paralympics
The Paralympic Games are a sporting event for athletes with physical and mental disabilities.
The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960. However it wasn't until 1988 that they were first held at the same time and in the same city and venues as the Olympics.
The Paralympic Games are now a direct "parallel" to the Olympic Games. They take place once every four years, with a Winter Games two years after each summer edition of the Games.
Just like the Olympics, the Paralympics has had its own share of controversy. Just after the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, it was discovered that non-disabled athletes were on the Spanish basketball team!
The committee
The Paralympics are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It aims “To enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sporting Excellence and Inspire and Excite the World.”
It was founded in 1989 and is made up of 162 committees, four international organisations, five regional organisations and six federations.
Team GB
206 athletes competed for Team GB in the 2008 Games.
There are two football teams for Team GB and in 2008 the seven-a-side team competed for the first time since 1992. The 2008 rowing team were also the first in British Paralympic history. Overall TeamGB took part in 18 of the 20 sports including archery, basketball, cycling, football, judo, rowing, rugby, swimming and tennis.
The Vancouver 2010 games in March 2010 will be the 10th Paralympic Winter games with approximately 600 athletes from 45 countries competing in five sports. ParalympicsGB are taking five mixed wheelchair curlers and an Alpine skiing team.
Jane Sowerby is a young Paralympic Downhill Racer. Find out more about her story.
The teens
There are 27 teenagers in Team GB and the youngest is 14 year old Eleanor Simmonds. In 2008 she competed in the swimming and became the second youngest British Paralympic champion in history when she won gold in the women's 100m freestyle.
Eleanor, who was born with dwarfism, said “I was not expecting that, I can’t believe you are calling me a Paralympic champion!”
14 year old Hollie Arnold, is a javelin competitor despite being born without a right hand and blogged about the Paralympics2008 for the BBC – find out what she got up to. Hollie also won the National 'Sports Aid One To Watch Award' in 2008 and was chosen out of 2000 athletes from all over the country.
Gordon Reid, 16, is a tennis player and was already the junior world champion when he took part in the 2008 Games. He has never let the fact that he is in a wheelchair get in the way.
Among those selected to the women’s Wheelchair Basket Ball team were 18-year-old Helen Freeman who made her Paralympic debut, as well as multi-Games athlete Ann Wild, who first competed at the Paralympics in Seoul 1988, when she was just 15.
Medals table
In 2008 Britain finished second place on the medals table with 42 golds.
Britain also finished second in Athens in 2004 with a total of 35 golds, 30 silver and 29 bronze medals.
Handover
On 17th September 2009, the Paralympic flag was handed over from the Mayor of Beijing to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
The handover not only marked another step towards the London 2012 Games, but also the beginning of the London 2012 Education Programme. It aims to capture the imagination of young people around the UK, encourage them to get involved in the 2012 Games and teach them to welcome the rest of the world to London!
Find out how you and your school can get involved.
