Amazing Athletes: An All-Star Look at Canada's Paralympians
The paralympic games The Paralympic Games bring together the best high performance athletes with disabilities from many countries They are organized by the International Paralympic Committee IPC which was founded in 1989 This is the Paralympic symbol It represents the motto of the IPC Spirit in Motion Its colours red blue and green are the hues most often found on the flags of the world’s countries The origin of Paralympic The word Paralympic is formed from the prefix para meaning beside or alongside and the word Olympic because the Paralympic Games are held alongside the Olympic Games Since 1988 they have taken place about two weeks after the Olympic Games in the same sports facilities Fair and equitable competition Para sports are a range of sporting activities for athletes with various types of physical visual or intellectual disabilities It is important to ensure that athletes competing against each other have comparable abilities This guarantees that the athletes success is determined by their skills physical fitness endurance concentration and strategic capabilities rather than by the extent of their impairment Each athlete is therefore placed in a category This system is similar to the weight classes in sports such as judo or boxing 4
The father of the Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games owe their start to Sir Ludwig Guttmann a German born doctor who in 1948 organized a competition near London for veterans wounded in the two world wars Sir Ludwig envisaged these games growing into an international event for athletes with disabilities His dream became a reality in 1960 in Rome with what’s now considered the first ever Paralympic Games There athletes competed in 8 different sports now there are 28 and a movement had begun Today the Paralympic Games are held every two years with summer sports alternating with the winter ones sports included in the Paralympic Games Summer PAra SPORTS Boccia Football 5 a side Goalball Para archery Para athletics Para badminton Para canoe Para cycling Para equestrian Para judo Para powerlifting Para rowing Para swimming Para table tennis Para taekwondo Para triathlon Shooting Para sport Sitting volleyball Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair tennis Winter PARA SPORTS Para alpine skiing Para ice hockey Para nordic skiing includes Para biathlon and Para country cross skiing Para snowboard Wheelchair curling 5
Gaining popularity With each competition the Paralympic Games have brought together more and more athletes from all over the world In 1960 there were 400 participants from 23 countries In 2016 there were more than 4,300 from 160 countries and getting more buzz For many years the spotlight was only on the Olympic Games That changed in Sydney in 2000 when the organizers were determined to give the Paralympic Games equal footing The following statistics show how the Paralympic Games have been gaining more attention in recent years The Paralympic Winter Games have often drawn less attention because they include fewer sports However media recognition has increased substantially in recent years In Canada the number of people watching listening to or reading about the Paralympic Games television radio newspapers the web and social media went from three million in 2010 to two billion in 2018 Coverage on the Internet and on social media has boosted the visibility of the Paralympic Games Deservedly so In 2012 Canadian television devoted seven hours of airtime to the summer Paralympic Games in London focusing mainly on Para athletics and Para swimming In 2016 the airtime increased to 300 hours and included a wider variety of sports such as Boccia and Goalball 6
Canada and the Paralympic Games a love story increase in participating countries and Canadians have every reason to be athletes the level of competition has proud of our Paralympic athletes Our become a lot higher As a result Canada country does well in the Paralympic Games with competitors routinely slipped to 14th place in the 2016 Games The athletes and the Canadian qualifying for the majority of summer and Paralympic Committee have redoubled winter sports From 1976 to 2008 Canada placed in the top seven countries in their efforts to once again reach the top Stay tuned numbers of medals However with the Host cities Year Host City Tokyo 2021 Rio de Janeiro 2016 London 2012 2008 Beijing 2004 Athens Sydney 2000 Atlanta 1996 Barcelona 1992 Seoul 1988 Stoke Mandeville New York City Arnhem Toronto 1984 1980 1976 1972 Heidelberg 1968 1964 1960 Tel Aviv Tokyo Rome Summer Games Country Japan Brazil United Kingdom China Greece Australia United States Spain South Korea United Kingdom United States Netherlands Canada Germany Israel Japan Italy Winter Games Year Host City Country 2022 Beijing China 2018 PyeongChang South Korea 2014 Sochi Russia 2010 Vancouver Canada 2006 Turin Italy 2002 Salt Lake City United States 1998 Nagano Japan 1994 Lillehammer Norway 1992 Albertville Tignes France 1988 Innsbruck Austria 1984 Innsbruck Austria 1980 Geilo Norway 1976 Örnsköldsvik Sweden 7
