Paralympic sports: list

Paralympic sports include a lot of traditional disciplines designed for people with disabilities to participate in them. These games represent a climax, completing a four-year sports cycle among all athletes, as well as other participants in this movement. Paralympic sports include the most prestigious competitions for people with disabilities, and selection takes place during a series of regional, national and international competitions.

Olympic and Paralympic Games

In 2000, the Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Olympic and Paralympic International Committees, which established the main principles of relations. Already in 2002, it was decided to use the technology "one application - one city". In other words, the application from the country was distributed at once to Paralympic sports, and the competitions were held in the same facilities with the support of the only organizing committee. In this case, the beginning of these tournaments is carried out with an interval of two weeks.

Initially, the term "Paralympic Games" was encountered in the process of playing games in Tokyo in 1964, but the official confirmation was given to this title only in 1988, when the Winter Games in Austria were held, and before that they were called "Stock-Mandeville" (this name was Is given in honor of the place where they were held for the first time for war veterans).

History of origin

Paralympic sports appeared in many respects thanks to a neurosurgeon named Ludwig Guttman, who had this idea. In 1939, the doctor emigrated to England from Germany, where, on instructions from the British government, he opened his own Center for Spinal Cord Injuries, based at Stoke-Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury.

Already four years after the opening, he decided to organize the first games for people suffering from injuries of the musculoskeletal system, calling them the "National Stock-Mandeville Games for the Disabled". It is worth noting that even then they began parallel to the opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games, which were held in London at that time, and the competitions themselves collected a large number of former servicemen who were injured during the hostilities. We can say that it was then that the first Paralympic sports appeared. Winter, summer and other groups appeared later, when they began to acquire a more formal status.

The name itself was originally associated with the term parapledgia, which denotes paralysis of the lower extremities, since the first regular competitions were held precisely among people suffering from various diseases of the spine. Together with the beginning of participation in these games of athletes who had other types of injuries, it was decided to rethink this term somewhat and further treat it as "next to, outside of the Olympiads", that is, to merge the Greek preposition Para, meaning "next", together with Word Olympics. Such an updated interpretation should talk about holding various contests among people with disabilities together and equally with Olympic ones.

Already in 1960 in Rome, held the IX international annual Stoke-Mandeville Games. In this case, the program of the competition included the Paralympic sports summer:

• Basketball in wheelchairs;
• Athletics;
• Fencing in wheelchairs;
• archery;
• table tennis;
• darts;
• billiards;
• swimming.

More than 400 athletes with disabilities who came from 23 countries took part in these competitions, and for the first time in history, not only those people who were injured in the course of various hostilities began to participate. In 1984, the IOC decided to officially award these competitions the status of the First Games for athletes with disabilities.

In 1976, for the first time, competitions began in which the Paralympic sports (winter) combined. These competitions were held in Ornskoldsvik, and the program claimed only two disciplines - skiing and skiing. In such competitions 250 sportsmen from 17 different countries decided to take part, and people with visibility impairment, as well as amputated limbs, already participated.

An association

Since 1992, athletes for whom Paralympic sports (summer and winter) were created, began to compete among themselves in the same cities in which the Olympic Games were held. With the development of the movement, various organizations for athletes with different types of disabilities gradually began to be created. Thus, Paralympic sports appeared for the visually impaired and many others. Also founded in 1960, the Committee on International Stock-Mandeville Games subsequently turned into the so-called International Federation of Stoke-Mandeville Games.

Work of the Committee

The first General Assembly, held by international sports organizations of disabled people, is the most important event in the history of the development of Paralympic sports. Summer and winter games began under the guidance of the International Committee, which, as a non-profit international organization, began to direct this movement around the world. His appearance was dictated by the ever-increasing need to expand national representation, as well as the creation of such a movement, which basically could focus on the sport of people with different forms of disability.

Thus, these games initially set a goal in the form of rehabilitation and treatment of disabled people, and over time they turned into a full-fledged sports event of the highest level, as a result, and needed its own governing body. For this reason, the ICC Coordinating Council of Sports Organizations for People with Different Disabilities was born in 1982, and the IPC, known as the International Paralympic Committee, which was fully delegated the powers of the Coordination Council, only appeared seven years later.

Correct writing

It is worth noting the fact that the writing of the term "Paraolympic" is fixed in the Russian orthographic dictionary, as well as many other technical literature. In this case, much more often you can find another spelling - "Paralympic Games". Kinds of sports (winter and summer) are rarely called so, since this name is not normative and it is not indicated in dictionaries, although it is actively used in official documents of modern government bodies, which is a tracing-paper with the official name from English, which is written as Paralympic Games .

In accordance with the federal legislation, a single concept is established, which should be used in the laws of the Russian Federation, as well as all word combinations that are formed on their basis. Therefore, Paralympic sports for the blind and visually impaired, as for other categories of athletes, it is customary to call it that way.

In existing laws, the writing of these words is in accordance with the rules established by sports international organizations, and the rejection of the original term is dictated by the fact that the use of the word "Olympic", as well as any of its derivatives for marketing or some other commercial purposes Must always be agreed with the IOC, which will be rather inconvenient.

International Committee

The International Paralympic Committee is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that is responsible for training, as well as the subsequent holding of various winter and summer games, world championships and many other international competitions for people with disabilities.

The supreme body of the IPC is the General Assembly, meeting every two years, and absolutely all members of this organization participate in it. As the main consolidated document, according to which the issues of the Paralympic movement are regulated, it is customary to use the IPC Rules of Procedure.

The Committee not only deals with the regulation of issues of already existing disciplines - there are also new Paralympic sports, the list of which is constantly replenished. Since 2001, the post of president of this organization is occupied by Sir Philippe Cravin (Englishman), who is a member of the management of the British Olympic Association. It is worth noting that this man is the world champion, and also twice became a two-time European champion in basketball in wheelchairs, and in his discipline for a long time served as president of the International Federation.

Under the leadership of Philippe Cravent, strategic goals, as well as the basic structures and systems of government in the IPC, began to be revised. Ultimately, the use of such an innovative approach allowed the development of a package of proposals, as well as the use of a new vision and mission of the entire movement, as a result of which the IPC Constitution, in effect to date, was adopted in 2004.

It should be noted that the USSR national team for the first time turned its attention to the Paralympic sport "boccia" and others only in 1984, having arrived in Austria for these competitions. The team began its debut with two bronze medals won by Olga Grigorieva, who was visually impaired. In the summer competitions, Soviet athletes were able to make their debut only in the games in Seoul, which took place in 1988, where they competed in athletics and swimming competitions, having managed to take with them 55 medals, of which 21 were gold medals.

Symbolism

For the first time under the emblem in 2006, competitions were held, which included every winter Paralympic sport. Athletics, swimming and other summer disciplines began to be held under this emblem only afterwards, but it itself remains unchanged to this day. This logo includes hemispheres of green, red and blue colors, which are located around the center. This symbol is intended to reflect the main role of the IPC in the association of athletes with disabilities, admiring and inspiring people with their achievements around the world. Today the colors of this emblem are widely represented in various national flags of different countries of the world, and they symbolize the Body, Mind and Spirit.

Also, the games have a Paralympic flag, which displays the IPC emblem on a white background, while it can only be used at official events, which were previously sanctioned by the IPC.

The hymn is an orchestral piece by Hymn de l'Avenir, and was written by his famous French composer Tierri Darni back in 1996, and it was almost immediately approved by the IPC Board.

The Paralympic motto sounds like "Spirit in Motion", and he also very brightly and concisely communicates the main visions of this direction - enabling any athletes with disabilities to admire and inspire the world with their achievements, regardless of the origin of a person and his state of health.

Types of games

Paralympic games (sports) are divided into several categories.

• Summer. Include off-season and summer Paralympic Games (sports), are held with an interval of four years under the management of the IOC. This includes, in addition to the already listed games, and relatively young sports such as golbol, sailing and others.
• Winter. At first, only ski sports were included here, but in the course of time sledge hockey and curling on wheelchairs were added. At the moment, winter games are held in only 5 main disciplines.

Relay Relay

As you know, the standard fire is lit in Olympia, and only then the relay race begins, during which it is delivered directly to the capital city of the games being played. Olympic and Paralympic sports in this regard are different, and here the route begins not from Olympia - the organizers themselves determine the city where this procession will begin, and the way of fire to the capital, naturally, is always somewhat shorter.

For example, in 2014 the relay lasted for 10 days, and at that time the torch was carried by 1,700 people from Russia and other countries, including 35% of people with disabilities. Special attention should be paid to the fact that four thousand volunteers took part in this relay race, and the fire was carried through 46 cities of different regions of Russia. In addition, for the first time in the process of carrying out one of the stages of this relay race, it was held in Stoke Mandeville, that is exactly where the Paralympic Games were held for the first time, though not on an official basis. Starting from 2014, through this city the fire will be held constantly.

Peculiar biathlon

Paralympic athletes take part in competitions in twenty different summer disciplines and only five in winter - it is slej-hockey, skiing, biathlon, curling in wheelchairs and cross-country skiing. There are practically no fundamental differences in the basic rules for conducting such competitions, but there are some specific features.

Thus, the Paralympic Biathlon provides for a reduced distance to the target, and it is only 10 meters, while the standard biathlon provides the location of the target at 50 meters from the arrow. Also, athletes with visual impairments shoot from specialized rifles equipped with an optronic system, triggered during the aiming. This system involves the use of electroacoustic glasses that begin to emit loud beeps when the sight of the athlete approaches the center of the target, which allows him to better navigate for accurate shots to the target.

Also in various sports there are a number of other auxiliary conditions and specialized technologies that simplify the performance of certain actions for athletes with reduced physical capabilities, so they can not be compared with standard sports, although in many respects they are quite similar.

Paralympic games have a lot of differences from the Olympic, but, one way or another, pursue the same goal - to inspire the conquest of new peaks. For all people who watch these competitions, people with disabilities who do not give up their hands are definitely a worthy example for imitation.