In 1924, the sports community will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Olympic Games for the Deaf competition. It was with them that the history of modern tournaments began, the participants of which are only athletes with disabilities for various reasons. The official name of such Games is Paralympics. They are held immediately after the completion of the Summer and Winter Olympics at the same sports grounds.
Instructions
Step 1
Berlin became the birthplace of sports organizations for the disabled. It was here in 1888 that the first sports club for people with serious physical problems was created. Those who were deprived of the opportunity not only to perform together with healthy competitors, but even train.
Step 2
Not all disabled athletes became members of the club in the capital of Germany, but only deaf ones. With the participation of athletes with hearing diseases, from 10 to 17 August 1924, the first competitions were held in Paris, called the "Olympic Games for the Deaf" by the organizers.
Step 3
Athletes from nine European countries took part in the French tournament. Representatives of Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, France and Czechoslovakia competed for medals in cycling, athletics, swimming, shooting and football.
Step 4
On one of the competition days, August 16, a sports committee for the deaf was created in Paris. Later, it included representatives from several more countries. Including the only representative of the socialist bloc - Yugoslavia.
Step 5
Games of modern Paralympians are held in many sports familiar to fans, but taking into account the physical ailments of their participants. In particular, tournaments in biathlon, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, wheelchair curling and sledge hockey (on special sledges with the participation of players without legs) are held at the Winter Paralympics.
Step 6
Summer Paralympians compete in sit-down basketball, volleyball and tennis, as well as in various disciplines of athletics, powerlifting, sailing, swimming, shooting and other sports. The categories of participants are formed by the International Paralympic Committee.
Step 7
There are no special restrictions on admission to the competition. In different groups, depending on the type of disease, athletes perform without limbs, with injuries of the spinal system, with problems with vision and hearing. By the way, there are professionals among the Paralympians.
Step 8
For example, the famous South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who does not have his legs and runs perfectly on prostheses, even managed to become a participant in the classic London Olympics. A four-time Paralympic champion Russian Alexei Ashapatov once played in the super league volleyball.
Step 9
The good idea to introduce people with injuries of the musculoskeletal system to sports first came to the mind of the English doctor Ludwig Guttman in 1944. During the Second World War, he worked at the Rehabilitation Center for such patients in Stoke Mandeville, where pilots of the British Air Force were treated.
Step 10
Four years later, on the initiative of Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, the first Stoke Mandeville Games were held here. 16 servicemen took part in archery competitions. Since 1952, the tournament has become a tradition in England.
Step 11
He soon attracted the attention of the heads of the IOC, the International Olympic Committee. In the 56th, the IOC even awarded the organizing committee of the Stoke Mandeville Games with a special cup for "bringing the Olympic ideals to life." The final rapprochement between Paralympic sports enthusiasts and the International Olympic Committee took place in 1960.
Step 12
After the completion of the Summer Games in Rome, competitions were held here with the participation of 400 disabled athletes from 23 countries. This tournament was recognized by the IOC as the first real summer Paralympics. A similar winter tournament # 1 was held in 76th in Innsbruck.
Step 13
One of the important differences between the two Olympic tournaments in the capital of Italy was that representatives of the USSR did not take part in the second of them. After all, officially disabled people, and even more so such athletes, did not exist in the Soviet country, there was nowhere to practice them.
Step 14
The real breakthrough happened only in the early 1980s. The International Coordinating Committee of the World Organization of Sports of Disabled Persons, created in 82, has led Paralympians around the world for ten years.
Step 15
Since the 1988 Calgary and Seoul Games, the Paralympics have been compulsory in the cities and stadiums where the Winter and Summer Olympics have just ended. Four years later, the International Paralympic Committee became one of their organizers.
Step 16
By the way, according to the rules, the Paralympics should be called "Paralympics". But this was opposed by functionaries from the IOC. According to sports officials, the letter "O" in the name violates the exclusive rights of the committee to the brands "Olympiada" and "Olympic".
Step 17
Russian athletes have been participating in the Paralympics since 1996. The 2014 Games in Sochi became outstanding for domestic athletes. Our team won 80 medals on them, including 30 gold, becoming the first in the unofficial team competition.
Step 18
And the best result at the Summer Paralympics was the second place in London 2012. On the account of the Russians in the capital of England, there were 102 awards, including 36 of the highest dignity. Only the Chinese team was ahead of our team.
