KRATAK HISTORIJAT PARAOLIMPIJADE

          1948 godine ser  Ludvig Gutman ( Ludwig Guttman ) je u engleskom mjestu Stouk Mendevil (Stoke Mandaville) organizovao sportsko takmićenje za veterane II svijetskog rata sa povredama kičmene moždine. Četiri godine kasnije njima su se pridružili i takmičari iz Holandije i tako je rođen međunarodni pokret. Prvi susret sportista sa invaliditetom po uzoru na Olimpijske igre održan je u Rimu 1960 godine ,  a nastao je i naziv PARAOLIMPIJSKE IGRE .

         Na  Paraolimpijskim  igrama u Torinu 1976g  sportistima paraplegicarima su pridodate druge grupe invaliditeta ,što je doprinjelo omasovljavanju pokreta. Taoje začeta ideja o spajanju različitih invaliditetnih grupa u ovom međunarodnom pokretu. Iste godine odžaane su i prve zimske paraolimpijske igre u Švedskoj.

        Od 1960.god. se Paraolimpijske igre održavaju svake četiri godine, a od 1988. god. se održavaju odmah nakon Olimpijskih igara u istoj zemlji.
           Organizacijom paraolimpijskih igara se od 1984. do 1989.god. se bavio Internacionalni koordinacioni komitet (International Coordinating Committee – ICC). Od 1989.god. su nacionalni paraolimpijski komiteti su udruženi u Međunarodni paraolimpijski komitet (International Paralympic Committee – IPC) čije je sedište u Bonu u Nemačkoj.        

Ljetnje paraolimpijske igre su do sada održane u sledećim gradovima:

Na prostorim EX Yugoslavije prva organizacija koja se bavila sportom osoba sa invaliditetom bila je Savez za sport i rekreaciju invalida  EX YU (SSRIJ). Zadatak je bio da podstiče,pomaže , koordinira i organizuje psihofizičku rehabilitaciju i resocijalizaciju osoba sa invaliditetom

The Evolution of Paralympic Games

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with a disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, now called Paralympics. In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions was born. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.

Today, the Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes from six different disability groups. They emphasize, however, the participants’ athletic achievements rather than their disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to 3806 athletes from 136 countries in Athens in 2004.

The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games. Since the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games and the Albertville 1992 Winter Paralympic Games they have also taken place at the same venues as the Olympics. On 19 June 2001, an agreement was signed between IOC and IPC securing this practice for the future. From the 2012 bid process onwards, the host city chosen to host the Olympic Games will be obliged to also host the Paralympics.

The Chinese city of Beijing will host the next 2008 Paralympic Games, whereas the Winter Paralympics 2010 will be in Vancouver, Canada. London will host the Paralympics in 2012.