The 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, retroactively designated as the 1960 Summer Paralympics, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952. They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. The term "Paralympic Games" was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first in 1984, while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was formed in 1989.
The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games and also known as Paralympic Tokyo 1964, were the second Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, and were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics.
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 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were in two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injuries and the other at the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, United States of America 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 with the 1984 Summer Olympics, the Soviet Union and other communist countries except China, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia boycotted the Paralympic Games.
The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and New York City, United States of America. Its athletes finished first in the gold and overall medal count.
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.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every summer and winter Paralympic Games.
The German Democratic Republic made its first and only Paralympic Games appearance at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City, where it entered four competitors in athletics. East Germany never took part in the Winter Paralympics. Thus the country's tally at the 1984 Summer Games is also its all-round Paralympic Games tally.
Trinidad and Tobago made its Paralympic Games début at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York. For its first participation, the country sent eight athletes to compete in athletics, swimming and weightlifting. Its three medals were all won by the same athlete, Rachael Marshall. The country competed again in the 1988 Summer Games, with a reduced delegation of four athletes, in athletics, table tennis and weightlifting. They won no medals. Trindad and Tobago returned to the Paralympics in 2012, and has never participated in the Winter Paralympics.
Venezuela made its Paralympic Games début at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York, sending five competitors in athletics and one in swimming. Absent from the Games in 1988, it returned in 1992, and has participated in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since then. Venezuela has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics.
The 1984 Summer Paralympics medal table is a list of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 1984 Summer Paralympics, held in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom from July 22 to August 1, 1984, and New York City, United States, from June 17 to 30, 1984.
Thailand made its Paralympic Games début at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City, with competitors in athletics, lawn bowls and swimming. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but has never taken part in the Winter Games.
The Netherlands participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of five athletes. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics. It made its Winter Paralympics début in 1984, and has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Games, except 2006. The Netherlands was the host country of the 1980 Summer Paralympics, in Arnhem.
Marathon events have been held at the Summer Paralympic Games, for both men and women, since the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City. They are held as part of the Paralympic athletics programme.
Australia competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics that were held in two locations - Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom and in the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, United States of America. Four months before the beginning of the 1984 summer Paralympics, the University of Illinois terminating their contract to hold the Games. Australia won 154 medals - 49 gold, 54 silver and 51 bronze medals. Australia competed in 9 sports and won medals in 6 sports. Australia finished 8th on the gold medal table and 7th on the total medal table.
Julie Caroline Van Keulen, BEM is an Australian Paralympic athlete.
In September 1943, the British government asked neurologist Ludwig Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. When the centre opened in 1944, Guttmann was appointed its director and held the position until 1966. Sport was introduced as part of the total rehabilitation programme for patients at the centre, starting with darts, snooker, punchball, and skittles, followed by archery.
Kenya competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain and New York City, United States.
Robin Hugh Surgeoner is a British retired swimmer. He won nine gold medals across three Paralympic Games competing as a British Paralympian in C4 events. Surgeoner was one of the original members of the British Paralympic Association committee. He now works as a Swim Coach, as an inclusion empowerment consultant and musician.
Kenneth Cairns is a British swimmer who won five Paralympic gold medals across five Games, along with several world titles. He broke several records in swimming events, and was appointed an MBE in 2001 for services to disability swimming. Cairns was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, and into the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018.
