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, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Joseph-René Bellot was a French naval officer and Arctic explorer.
National Olympic Committees that wish to host an Olympic Games select cities within their territories to put forth bids for the Olympic Games. The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid. Since the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, which successfully appropriated the name of the Ancient Greek Olympics to create a modern sporting event, interested cities have rivaled for selection as host of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. 51 different cities have been chosen to host the modern Olympics: three in Eastern Europe, five in East Asia, one in South America, three in Oceania, nine in North America and all the others in Western Europe. No Central American, African, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or Southeast Asian city has ever been chosen to host an Olympics.
John McFall is a British Paralympic sprinter and ESA astronaut. In November 2022, he was selected by the European Space Agency to become the first "parastronaut". ESA will do a feasibility study on him flying to space and what needs to be adapted for people with disabilities.
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.
Ali Jawad is a British Paralympic powerlifter competing in the −59 kg class. Born without legs, he took up powerlifting at the age of 16. He competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, finishing fourth. The following year he took gold at the Asian Open Championships making a world record lift of 185.5 kg. At the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Dubai, he became World Champion in his class, setting another world record, lifting 190 kg.
Roberto Marson was an Italian multisport athlete who competed at the Summer Paralympics on four occasions and won a total of 26 Paralympic medals. He lost the use of his legs when a pine tree he was chopping down fell on his back.
Ahmed Kelly is an Iraqi-born Australian Paralympic swimmer. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, his third games, he won the silver medal in the Men's 150 m individual medley SM3.
William John Bayley is a British professional Paralympic table tennis player, ranked world number 1. He is the 2016 Summer Paralympics Games gold medallist and the 2014 World Champion.
Sebastián Rodríguez Veloso is a Spanish Paralympic swimmer. He has competed at four Paralympic Games winning fifteen medals: eight gold, four silver and three bronze. His attendance at the Games was controversial after it was revealed that he had been jailed for bomb attacks while a member of First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO).
Gustavo Sánchez Martínez is a Mexican competitive swimmer, born without left hand and both legs, who won four medals for Mexico at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. He competed in five events, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 150m medley, 50m backstroke. Gustavo became well known at World Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2010, where he won three bronze medals. His biggest rivals in the pools are David Smetanine from France and Richard Oribe from Spain.
The 2024 Summer Paralympics, also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport parasports event governed by the International Paralympic Committee, to be held in Paris, France, from 28 August to 8 September 2024. These games mark the first time Paris will host the Paralympics in its history and the second time that France will host the Paralympic Games, as Tignes and Albertville joint hosted the 1992 Winter Paralympics. The final decision was made by the IOC on 13 September 2017, at their annual session in Lima, Peru.
Iran sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–16 March 2014. This was Iran's fifth time participating in a Winter Paralympic Games. The Iranian delegation consisted of a single alpine skier, Sadegh Kalhor, who had his leg amputated in a skiing accident as a teenager. In the standing slalom event, he finished in 20th place.
Peter Genyn is a Paralympian sportsman from Belgium. Initially Genyn competed as a wheelchair rugby player before switching to track and field athletics in 2014 where he competes in category T51 sprint events. In 2016 he became the world record holder in the T51 men's 400 metres sprint.
Haiti sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 7 to 18 September 2016. The country's participation in Rio marked its third appearance at the quadrennial event and its delegation consisted of one shot put thrower Jean Indris Santerre, who qualified for the games by being issued a wild card from the International Paralympic Committee after being unable to qualify on merit. He was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Santerre did not start the final of the men's F57 shot put competition held at the Maracanã Stadium on 17 September for unknown reasons.
The Belgian Paralympic Committee (BPC) is the umbrella organization in Belgium of organized sport for people with a disability. It acts as the Belgian National Paralympic Committee, making it the official Belgian representative to the European Paralympic Committee (EPC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The Belgian Paralympic Committee has two members, a Flemish league (Parantee-Psylos) and a French-speaking league for disabled sports.
Simone Barlaam is an Italian Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. He is a thirteen time World champion and eight time European champion. He competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold medal.
Laurent Thirionet is a retired French Paralympic cyclist who competed in international track cycling and road cycling elite events. He is a five-time World champion and a double Paralympic champion. Thirionet had his left leg amputated above the knee after being involved in a traffic accident in Dunkirk. He started cycling after his accident and won his first medals at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.
Raphaël Voltz is a former French Paralympic sports shooter who has competed in international elite events. He is a four-time Paralympic medalist, a double World champion and European champion. He was paralysed from the waist down after a diving accident.
Laurent Chardard is a French Paralympic swimmer who competes in international elite events. He is a European gold medalist and a World gold medalist.
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