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History of the Paralympic Games
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The history of the Paralympic Games began when Dr (later Sir) Ludwig Guttman, established - at the British Government’s request - a centre for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England in February 1944. Guttman played a key role in making sport an inseparable part of therapy and rehabilitation for people suffering from spinal cord injuries. Convinced of his success, he organised the first Games in July 1948 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, with two teams taking part. After 1954, the Games took on an international aspect with the participation of teams from different countries. The idea of creating a large sport event, where athletes with a physical disability could compete grew in popularity over the years, and in 1960 the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, with 400 athletes from 23 countries participating.
Since then, the Paralympic Games have been held every four years and consist of the top international sport event for people with a disability. In the 1960 Games, the only participants were athletes in wheelchairs, but over the years sufferers from deafness, blindness, cerebral palsy and mental retardation have also taken part. The Paralympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992 were milestones in the history of the Paralympic Games, as these games were hosted in the same venues as the Olympic Games. The Athens 2004 Paralympics were the first Paralympics to be organised by the same national committee as the Olympics.
Check that you understand what these words mean in this document Veteran: a person who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity. Disability: an illness, injury or condition that makes it difficult for someone to do the things that other people do. Milestone: a very important event such as the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point.