The Paralympics is an opportunity for athletes with a variety of disabilities to compete at a worldwide level.
The International Paralympic Committee, which is based in Germany, was founded in 1989 by neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttann. During the games, athletes are divided into groups dependent upon their impairment, which includes amputee, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Within each of these groups, the athletes are additionally divided into classes based on the extent and type of impairment.
The Paralympic Games began when Guttann organized a sports competition for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. These games took place in England in 1948. The second Games, which took place in 1952, also included athletes from the Netherlands. In 1959 Rome held the first summer quadrennial Olympic Games for athletes with disabilities, and in 1976 the Winter Games were held in Sweden. The first Paralympics that took place at the same venue as the olympic games was during the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Many of the sports that are a part of the games are the same as the Olympics; archery, badminton, track and field, cycling, powerlifting, and volleyball, for example. The only difference is that sports equipment may be modified for the Paralympics.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, there were many firsts for paralympic athletes and their countries. Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez, a wheelchair tennis player, made history as the first South American to win a Paralympic medal in his sport.
“I think it was, for me, the best Paralympics I’ve experienced in my life,” Fernandez said in an interview with the International Paralympic Committee on September 10, 2024. “The organizers and the French people did an amazing job, making us really, really good. Everything was great, including the village; it was an amazing experience. It will always be in my heart.”
Bly Twomey a fourteen-year-old, won bronze for Great Britain in table tennis with a women’s doubles partner.
This year at the Paralympics there were a record number of female competitors, and featured around 4,400 athletes from a record 168 delegations competed Female athletes competed in more medal events than ever before. The Paris 2024 also included 167 National Paralympic Committees, up to 96 Neutral Paralympic Athletes which were 88 from Russia and 8 from Belarus, and with an eight Refugee Paralympic Team.
The USA female wheelchair basketball player Rose Hollermann is a three-time paralympic medalist. “These Paralympics have given me a lot of pride for women’s sports. I think this is the most competitive Paralympics I’ve been to. It’s my fourth (Games) and to see that one through eighth (teams) can be competitive to each other, I think it’s exciting for Paralympic sport and women’s sports,” said Hollermann in an interview with the International Paralympic Committee on September 10, 2024.
During the 2024 Paralympics, the Republic of Korea’s Park Jinho won two gold medals. This was an improvement over his 2020 performance, where he received silver and bronze medals for his shooting.
Sheetal Devi from India, is a 17-year-old shooter who felt more pressure than ever shooting her bow at the Paralympics compared to her other tournaments. Devi, even though challenged by being born without arms, found something she loves and found a way to compete in it. She participates at all of her competitions and practices using her feet. During the 2024 Paralympics, Devi finished 9th in the Women’s Individual Compound Open. Two days later she came back and took bronze in the mixed team event, because of Davi’s achievements, Para archery was the first medal for India in Paris 2024.
Hunter Woodhall from the USA won his first Paralympic gold medal in the 400m T6w final in France on Friday, September 6th. After his win, he ran to his wife Tara Davis-Woodhall, making them one of the most viewed relationships of the Olympics.
Catherine Debrunner beat the world record holder in the Women’s 5000m T54, one of the six events she competed in at the Paris Paralympics. By the end of the games, she won five gold medals and a silver medal making her the athlete to win the most medals in the sport in Paris.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics was very successful for many athletes and countries. The addition of the Paralympics really impacted the inclusion of all including a very large range of ages especially in this year’s games.
