The Paralympics have now ended in Brazil, but the story of how the games came to be is often forgotten. I have often watched the games with wonder, men and women able to reach their absolute physical peak while utilising their disability to work for them- rather than in spite of. The Paralympics, I think some will be surprised to learn, is a relatively new concept. The following is the history of the Paralympic games, how it came to be and the legacy it leaves behind.

This article began as a fact finding mission, all about how the modern Paralympics came to be and the legacy that it leaves behind in the countries who hosted it. However it became more personal as I began my research.

After World War 2, with all the young men who were coming back from war injured, disability was something the people were not able to look away from, ignore or hide. The first games created was in 1944, at the request of the British Government. Dr. Ludwig Guttmann created a spinal injuries centre at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. Over time rehabilitation sport began to be played for fun and then for sport.

In 1948 in the London Olympic Games, Dr. Guttmann held the first competition for wheelchair athletes, and the Stoke Mandeville Games was created. The contest involved 16 injured servicemen and women who competed in archery. In 1952, Dutch ex-servicemen joined the movement and the international Stoke Mandeville Games were founded.

It is here that the journey becomes more personal for me. My aunt has polio which affects her lower limbs. As a young adult, she entered into the Stoke Mandeville games and won many races! The games as she tells me,  in their early days, were poorly organised when it came to putting like for like people in a race. But the fact that my aunt, someone I have always looked up to, was a part of an organisation that went on to provide confidence, integrity, meaning and power to so many people who have disabilities all around the world is incredible.

The 'Paralympic Games' first took place in Rome, Italy in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then they have taken place every four years. In 1976 the first Winter Games in Paralympics history were held in Sweden, and as with the Summer Games, have taken place every four years.

After the London Paralympics in 2012, so many opportunities for disabled people to play sport have opened up. In fact, it wasn't until these games that I thought about the fact that, should I ever desire to, sport is something that can be adapted to my needs.

When I watch the races, I don't think about the athletes disability as a disability! They are ATHLETES, and they aren't running, swimming, sailing, wheeling 'dis'abled. They are ABLE to do all those things- better than most able bodied people I would reckon as well.

The word "Paralympic" derives from the Greek preposition "para" (beside or alongside) and the word "Olympic". Its meaning is that Paralympics are the parallel Games to the Olympics and illustrates how the two movements exist side-by-side. They are equal. And that is awesome.

Rachael

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