The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Paralympics as a series of international contests for athletes with disabilities that are associated with and held following the summer and winter Olympic Games. It comprises disabilities such as impaired muscle power (e.g. paraplegia and quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g. amputation or dysmelia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment, and intellectual impairment.
History of Paralympic Games
After the second world war, the Paralympics was introduced. It was, however, brought to help a large number of veterans and civilians who were affected by the war.
In 1944, at the request of the British Government, Dr Ludwig Guttmann opened a clinic to treat spine injuries at the Stoke Mandeville hospital in Great Britain. The treatment evolved from just rehabilitation to recreational sports to competitive sports.
On July 29, 1948, at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, Dr Guttmann organised the first competition for wheelchair athletes, which he named Stoke Mandeville Games. Sixteen injured servicemen and women took part in the games. In 1952, athletes from the Netherlands joined in the competition and the International Stoke Mandeville Games was founded.
In 1960, the Stoke Mandeville Games became the Paralympic Games, which first took place in 1960 in Italy, Rome, and featured 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then, it has taken place every four years. The Paralympics is divided into summer and winter games. Since its inception in 1960, there have been 15 summer games and 11 winter games. Nigeria only participates in the summer games.
The growth of the Paralympics was so fast that by 1976, at the games held in Toronto, there were about 1,500 athletes from 40 countries who participated in 13 different sports. Before 1976 the games were only limited to people with spinal injuries. But after the 1976 Toronto games, athletes with other disabilities such as amputees and vision-impaired were invited to participate in the competition.
Nigeria made its debut at the Paralympic games in 1992 in Barcelona. A team of six was sent to represent the country in track and field, powerlifting, and table tennis. Adeoye Ajibola won gold medals in both 100 and 200-metre races; Monday Emoghawe won the gold medal for powerlifting. Since then, several Nigerian athletes have gone on to win several medals, ranging from gold to silver and bronze.
The last Paralympic Games attended by Nigeria was held from July 23 to August 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Nigeria won a total of 10 medals. The medals consisted of four gold, one silver, and five bronze. The competition featured 22 teams. Among the gold medalist was Flora Ugunnwa, who won a gold medal in javelin to retain the title she won at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Also, Bose Omolayo won a gold medal in the women’s 79k powerlifting competition, with her all-time best of 141kg to set a new record for the games. Nigeria was ranked 24th on the table.
The games are divided into different categories such as:
Summer sports
- Archery
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Boccia
- Canoe
- Cycling
- Equestrian
- Football 5-a-side
- Goalball
- Judo
- Powerlifting
- Rowing
- Shooting Para sport
- Sitting volleyball
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Taekwondo
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair fencing
- Triathlon
- Wheelchair rugby
- Wheelchair tennis
Winter Sports
- Alpine skiing
- Biathlon
- Cross-country skiing
- Para ice hockey
- Snowboard
- Wheelchair curling
Paralympics 2016 was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the first game hosted by a South American country. The tournament had a total of 4,328 para-athletes from 159 countries. It started on September 7, 2016, and ended on September 18, 2016. it was a 12-day long ceremony. The number of women that participated in the sports was 1,687, which doubled the number that participated in the previous games.
During the games, Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad died after he crashed on the road during the cycling activity. Despite this tragedy, the games boosted the Brazilian economy as the number of employments for the disabled rose after the games.
China topped the table in the games with a total of 239 medals which consisted of 107 gold, 81 silver and 51 bronze. They were followed by Great Britain, Ukraine, USA, and Australia.
The 2020 Paralympic games were held in Tokyo, Japan. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games took place from August 24 to September 5, 2021. It was the first to be played in an odd year. The games featured 539 medals and 22 games. Badminton and Taekwando replaced football 7-a-side and sailing. It also saw China topping the medal table for the fifth consecutive time with a total of 207 medals. They were followed by Great Britain and the United States.
The official website of the Paralympic Games is www.paralympic.org. To find out more information about the games and how to participate, check out their official website.
The Paralympics symbol is three agitos, which in Latin means I move. It consists of three colours which are red, blue and green which are the colours included in most national flags. The agitos encircling a central point symbolises motion. It highlights the role of the Paralympics to bring athletes together from different parts of the world.
The symbol also represents the Paralympics motto ‘Spirit in motion,’ which stands for the strong will of every Paralympian. It also represents the Paralympic vision which is to “To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world.” since the Paralympics is controlled by a different body from the Olympics, they felt the need to change the existing logo which was too similar to the Olympics logo. The symbol consisted of five symbols with the same colour and format as the Olympics logo.
It was launched in 2004 at the closing ceremony of the games in Athens. The logo was updated once more in 2019 with a new look.
