The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million.
The 1968 Summer Paralympics were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), they were known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time. The games were originally planned to be held alongside the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, but in 1966, the Mexican government decided against it due to difficulties. The Israeli government offered to host the games in Tel Aviv, a suggestion that was accepted.
The 1976 Summer Paralympics, branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Canada, from 4 to 12 August 1976, marking the first time a Paralympics was held in Americas and in Canada. The games began three days after the close of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Great Britain was the co-host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and New York City, United States. It was represented by 227 athletes competing in archery, athletics, boccia, cycling, equestrian, football, lawn bowls, powerlifting, shooting, snooker, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair fencing. It finished second in the overall medal count, with a total of 331 medals.
Margaret Maughan was a British competitive archer, dartcher and bowls competitor. She was Britain's first gold medallist at the Paralympic Games, and won four gold and two silver medals at the Games. She lit the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium in London at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Ethiopia’s participation in the Paralympic Games has been sporadic. The country made its Paralympic début at the 1968 Summer Games in Tel Aviv, sending two competitors who both competed in both athletics and table tennis. Ethiopia was then absent from the Games for almost a decade, returning in 1976 with a one-man delegation Abraham Habte, who entered athletics, lawn bowls and table tennis. In 1980, Habte was again Ethiopia's only representative, this time competing only in lawn bowls. Ethiopia then entered a prolonged period of absence, before sending a single runner to the 2004 Games. In 2008, the country entered a two-man delegation in athletics. In 2012, Wondiye Fikre Indelbu became the first Ethiopian to win a medal in the Paralympic Games, winning a silver in the men's 1500 meters - T46 event in athletics.
Brazil made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, sending representatives to compete in track and field, archery, swimming and wheelchair basketball. The country has competed in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since.
Indonesia made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto, with competitors in athletics, lawn bowls, swimming and table tennis. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, except 1992, but has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics.
The 21st International Stoke Mandeville Games, later known as the 1972 Summer Paralympics was an international multi-sport event held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11, 1972, in which athletes with physical disabilities competed against one another. The German Disabled Sports Association planned to stage the Games in Munich following the 1972 Olympic Games, however the Olympic village in Munich was designated to be closed and converted into private apartments. The organisers tried to arrange for alternative accommodation for the athletes but when this was not possible the city of Heidelberg stepped in with an invite to stage the Games at the University of Heidelberg's Institute for Physical Training.
The 1968 Summer Paralympics was an international multi-sport event held in Tel Aviv, Israel, from November 4 to 13, 1968, in which athletes with physical disabilities competed against one another. The Paralympics are run in parallel with the Olympic Games; these Games were originally planned to be held alongside the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, but two years prior to the event the Mexican government pulled out due to technical difficulties. At the time, the event was known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games. The Stoke Mandeville Games were a forerunner to the Paralympics first organized by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948. This medal table ranks the competing National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) by the number of gold medals won by their athletes.
South Africa sent a team to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11. They sent twenty five competitors, twelve male and thirteen female. The team won forty-one medals—sixteen gold, twelve silver and thirteen bronze—and finished fourth in the medal table.
Roy Fowler was an Australian Paralympic competitor, who won ten medals at six Paralympics from 1964 to 1988.
Stan Kosmala is an Australian Paralympic competitor, who has competed in athletics, wheelchair basketball, lawn bowls and shooting. Born in Germany, he contracted polio at the age of two. He is married to Paralympic shooter Libby Kosmala, whom he met through wheelchair sport, and has two sons and two grandchildren.
Eric Magennis is an Australian Paralympic lawn bowls player and archer. He first represented Australia in lawn bowls at the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh, where he won a pairs gold medal. At the 1972 Heidelberg Paralympics, he participated in archery and became the first Australian to win a gold medal in the lawn bowls Men's Singles event. He won two further Paralympic gold medals, one with Bruce Thwaite at the 1976 Toronto Games in the Men's Pairs wh event and the other with Roy Fowler at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Games in the Men's Pairs paraplegic event. He retired from international competition in 1986, having won 78 out of the 85 games which he played over his 16-year career.
Bruce Oliver Thwaite was an Australian Paralympic competitor. During World War II, he sustained a spinal injury when he landed on a tree after parachuting from a bomber plane over Germany. He was treated at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Bowls classification is the classification system for lawn bowls where players with a disability are classified into different categories based on their disability type. Classifications exist for blind bowlers. Bowls was played at the Paralympics and is a core sport of Commonwealth Games.
Valerie Robertson is a British former Paralympic athlete who competed in archery, athletics, swimming, and wheelchair fencing, winning at least a silver medal in each. She won a total of six Paralympic gold medals at three Games. After completing her Paralympic career, Robertson had a very successful transition to wheelchair lawn bowling.
Kenya competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. The seventeen member strong tem competed in athletics, weightlifting, lawn bowls and table tennis, claiming a gold medal and two silver medals. Lucy Wanjiru 's gold in the Women's Javelin 3 event was the first gold earned by a Kenyan woman at the Paralympic Games.
Tommy Taylor was a British Paralympic athlete who won sixteen medals across five sports, including ten gold medals. Taylor was treated by Ludwig Guttmann after an accident in 1956 caused severe paralysis. He went on to compete at numerous Paralympic Games, finding particular success in para table tennis from Rome 1960 to Arnhem 1980. Eight of Taylor's gold medals came in table tennis, along with one in snooker and one in lawn bowls.
