This Week’s Q&A
Q: What was the inspiration for the Paralympics?
A: Originally the Paralympics were created as a rehabilitation program for British war veterans who had spinal injuries. In 1948 Sir Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, added sports to help his patients rehabilitate.
He set it up as a competition between his hospital and others, and held it during the London Olympics. This idea was adopted by hospital after hospital throughout Britain and in 1960, Guttman brought 400 of these athletes to Rome to compete during that year’s Olympics. It was then that the name “Paralympics” was coined.
By 1968 there were more than 1,000 athletes participating from 44 countries. Today the Paralympics host elite athletes from six different disability groups. Since the beginning, they have been held in the same year as the Olympics, and often in the same city. This year they will be held in Beijing, China and the Winter Paralympics for 2012 will be in Vancouver, Canada.
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