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paralympics gb staff - sportcentric

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HISTORY OF THE PARALYMPICS<br />

The Paralympic Games originate from 1948 when a sports competition was organised for World War II veterans with<br />

a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later athletes from Holland joined the event and so the<br />

international Paralympic movement was born.<br />

The first recognised Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960 and immediately followed the Olympics.<br />

Here, around 400 athletes from 23 countries competed in six different sports, including swimming.<br />

Today, the Games are an elite sports event for athletes from six different disability groups competing in 19 sports<br />

and the last Games in Sydney in 2000 involved more athletes that the 1998 Commonwealth Games.<br />

Swimming has been a part of the Games since its conception. Swimmers compete in events ranging from 50m to<br />

400m. This differs slightly from the Olympic Games where swimmers compete in events up to 800m for women and<br />

1500m for men.<br />

This year 580 swimmers from 58 countries have registered for the Games.<br />

PREVIOUS GAMES:<br />

YEAR<br />

1960<br />

1964<br />

1968<br />

1972<br />

1976<br />

1980<br />

1984<br />

1988<br />

1992<br />

1996<br />

2000<br />

CITY<br />

Rome, Italy<br />

Tokyo, Japan<br />

Tel Aviv, Israel<br />

Heidelberg, Germany<br />

Toronto, Canada<br />

Arnhem, Netherlands<br />

Stoke Mandeville, UK<br />

New York, USA<br />

Seoul, Korea<br />

Barcelona, Spain<br />

Atlanta, USA<br />

Sydney, Australia<br />

PARTICIPANTS<br />

400 athletes from 23 countries<br />

390 athletes from 22 countries<br />

750 athletes from 29 countries<br />

1000 athletes from 44 countries<br />

1600 athletes from 42 countries<br />

2500 athletes from 42 countries<br />

4080 athletes from 42 countries<br />

3053 athletes from 61 countries<br />

3020 athletes from 82 countries<br />

3195 athletes from 103 countries<br />

3843 athletes from 123 countries<br />

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