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.
Indonesia first participated in the Olympic Games in 1952 and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for two; in 1964 due to controversy around the 1962 Asian Games when they banned Israel and the then-internationally recognized Republic of China which resulted in a ban for their track and field team, and in 1980, when they participated in the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The National Olympic Committee for Indonesia was created in 1946 and recognized in 1952. The country has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games, which can be explained by the lack of sporting facilities for winter sports on its territory.
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.
Norway sent a delegation of 24 competitors, to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, from September 6 to September 17, 2008.
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.
Paralympic judo has been contested at the Summer Paralympic Games since 1988. The sport is restricted to visually impaired competitors. Men's and women's events are held in various weight classes, just like judo at the Summer Olympics. More than 130 visually impaired judokas, including some from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden, competed in the Rio 2016 games, making it the biggest yet staged.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 with the exception of the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
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.
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.
Algeria competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. 33 competitors participate at the 2012 Paralympics with 26 men and 7 women are accompanied by managers, coaches and other support staff.
Para-equestrian is an equestrian sport governed by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), and includes two competitive events. One is para-equestrian dressage, which is conducted under the same basic rules as conventional dressage, but with riders divided into different competition grades based on their functional abilities. The other is para-equestrian driving, which operates under the same basic rules as combined driving but places competitors in various grades based on their functional abilities.
Comoros was scheduled to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Liberia competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games have been postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1956, except for three occasions. Liberia failed to register any athletes at both the 1968 and 1992 Summer Olympics, and also joined the rest of the African nations to boycott the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Ebony Leea Morrison is a Liberian-American hurdler. Her paternal ancestry traces to Liberia, which allows her to compete for the country. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she represented Liberia. She ran a time of 12.74 in the women's 100m hurdles and was a semi finalist. She will also compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Liberia competed at 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.
