The Paralympics run alongside the Olympics and allow athletes with a variety of disabilities to compete. Many of these athletes have disabilities that they were born with or have acquired during their lifetime. Some of them will use Mobility Aids like the ones from https://www.abilitysuperstore.com in their everyday lives.
Early Beginnings
Sports clubs for deaf people have existed in Berlin since 1888, when the first was established. There have also been sports clubs for athletes with disabilities for well over a century.
However, it was not until after the Second World War that sport was widely adopted as a way for disabled people to compete. At the time, the aim was to help the vast number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during the war.
Stoke Mandeville
A spinal injuries centre was opened by Dr Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1944 at the request of the British Government. In time, rehabilitation sport evolved into recreational sport and then into competitive sport at Stoke Mandeville.
The First Paralympic Games
Building on the Stoke Mandeville Games, the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960, with 400 athletes from 23 countries taking part. They have taken place every four years, the same as the Olympics, ever since.