The Evolution of Paralympic Games

　　In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics. In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions was born. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.

　　Today, the Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes from six different disability groups. They emphasize, however, the participants' athletic achievements rather than their disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to 3806 athletes from 136 countries in Athens in 2004.

　　The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games. Since the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games and the Albertville 1992 Winter Paralympic Games they have also taken place at the same venues as the Olympics. On 19 June 2001, an agreement was signed between IOC and IPC securing this practice for the future. From the 2012 bid process onwards, the host city chosen to host the Olympic Games will be obliged to also host the Paralympics.

　　The Chinese city of Beijing will host the next 2008 Paralympic Games, whereas the Winter Paralympics 2010 will be in Vancouver, Canada. London will host the Paralympics in 2012.

　　第二次世界大战期间,欧洲战场上的伤残士兵,自发组织起来进行康复活动,这便是现代残疾人体育运动的雏形。1948年英国斯托克-曼德维尔(Stoke Mandeville)国立脊髓损伤中心举办了残疾人体育比赛,当时只有16名坐在轮椅上的伤残士兵参加,此后该运动会每年举行一次。1952年,由于荷兰运动员的参加,该运动会演变为国际性体育活动。

　　1960年,紧接着夏季奥运会后,来自欧美23个国家的约400名伤残运动员聚集罗马,举办首次世界残疾人运动会。

　　1976年,国际残疾人组织决定,斯托克-曼德维尔运动会与世界残疾人运动会合并,在加拿大的多伦多举办了第一届国际伤残人士奥运会,来自38个国家的1657名残疾人运动员参加了比赛。1988年,国际奥委会决定:夏季奥运会和残奥会必须在同一城市举行。2000年,国际奥委会和国际残奥委会签署协议规定:申办奥运会的城市,必须同时申办残奥会；奥运会后一个月内,在奥运会举办城市的奥运场地举行残疾人奥运会。

　　从1960年至2005年已举办了12届夏季残奥会和8届冬季残奥会。