The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, have been held shortly after the corresponding Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The 1972 Summer Paralympics, the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from 2 to 11 August 1972. The games ended 15 days before the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, also in West Germany.
The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, commonly known as the 1984 Summer Paralympics, were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injuries and the other at the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University on Long Island, New York, United States for wheelchair and ambulatory athletes with cerebral palsy, amputees, and les autres [the others]. Stoke Mandeville had been the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games from 1948 onwards, seen as the precursors to the Paralympic Games, as the 9th International Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome in 1960 are now recognised as the first Summer Paralympics.
Spain first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, and has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since 1920. Spain has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1936. Its team is organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee created in 1924.
Athletes from Spain have competed at the Paralympic Games since the 1968 Summer events and the country hosted the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Competitors have represented Spain in ten of the twelve Summer Paralympics, missing only the first two events in Rome and Tokyo.
Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896. Germany has hosted three Olympic Games, in 1936 both the Winter and Summer Games, and the 1972 Summer Olympics. In addition, Germany had been selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics as well as the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which had to be cancelled due to World Wars. After these wars, Germany was banned from participating in the 1920, 1924 and 1948 Olympics.
The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, organized by the International Paralympic Committee. Medals are awarded in every event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that the Olympic Games started in 1904.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 with the exception of the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
East Timor first sent competitors to the Paralympic Games for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. The country at that time was not yet recognised as a sovereign state, and its athletes participated as "Individual Paralympic Athletes". There were only two: Alcino Pereira in track & field, in the men's 5,000m race ; and Mateus Lukas in men's powerlifting, in the up to 48 kg category. Pereira failed to complete his race, while Lukas lifted 105 kg, finishing 13th and last of the athletes who successfully lifted a weight in his category.
The United States competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from August 29 to September 9, 2012.
India competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. The team included twelve athletes - eleven men and one woman. Indian competitors won two medals at the Games, one gold and one bronze, to finish joint 53rd in the medal table.
Indonesia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, having not competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the United States boycott.
Para-athletics classification is a system to determine which athletes with disabilities may compete against each other in para-athletics events. Classification is intended to group together athletes with similar levels of physical ability to allow fair competition. Classification was created and is managed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which is regularly published via its IPC Athletics Classification Handbook. People with physical, vision and intellectual disabilities are eligible to compete in this sport at the Summer Paralympics. The classification for this sport was created during the 1940s and for much of its early history was a medical condition based classification system. The classification system has subsequently become a functional mobility based one, and is moving towards an evidence-based classification system.
Para-swimming classification is a function-based classification system designed to allow for fair competition in disability swimming. The classes are prefixed with "S" for freestyle, butterfly and backstroke events, "SB" for breaststroke and "SM" for individual medley events. Swimmers with physical disabilities are divided into ten classes based on their degree of functional disability: S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9 and S10. The lower number indicates a greater degree of impairment. Those with visual impairments are placed in classes S11, S12 and S13. Class S15 is for athletes with hearing loss. Additional classes may be reserved for swimmers with intellectual impairment: S14, S18 for swimmers with Down Syndrome or class-S14 intellectual impairment combined with a physical impairment, and S19 for swimmers with autism.
The Republic of the Congo competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country made its debut appearance in the Paralympics at Rio, though they had participated in eleven Summer Olympics prior to the opening of the 2016 Paralympics. They sent a single competitor, track and field athlete Bardy Bouesso. Bouesso was the flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
Burkina Faso sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the country's sixth time competing at a Summer Paralympic Games after making its debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Burkina Faso was represented by one athlete, Jacques Ouedraogo. He competed in one event, the men's 100 metres T54 competition, where he was eliminated in the heat stages because he was last in his heat and only the top two participants in a heat progressed to the semi-finals.
East Timor competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 7 September to 18 September, 2016.
Tunisia competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan from 24 August to 5 September, 2021.
Cambodia competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was the nation's sixth time competing at the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. The delegation consisted of Vun Van competing in the Men's 100 metres T54.
Individual Paralympic Athletes (2000)