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 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were 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 on 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 the 9th International Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome in 1960 are now recognised as the first Summer Paralympics. 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 Soviet Union did not participate in the Paralympics at the time, arguing that they have no disabled people in the country. The USSR made its Paralympic debut in 1988, during Perestroika.
The Paralympic symbols are the icons, flags, and symbols used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games.
China competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, held in New York City, United States and in Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom. This was China's debut at the summer Paralympics. The country sent 24 athletes who competed in three sports: athletics, swimming, and table tennis.
Weightlifting at the 1984 Summer Paralympics consisted of fourteen events for men.
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 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.
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.
The 1984 Winter Paralympics, then known as The Third World Winter Games for the Disabled, were held in Innsbruck, Austria. The games took place from the 15 until 21 January. Present at these games were 419 athletes from 21 countries, Spain and the Netherlands competing for the first time in the Winter Paralympics, competing in 107 events across 3 sports. The inclusion of Les Austres and Cerebral palsy impairment groups contributing to the distinct increase in athlete participation with the total number of athletes jumping from 229 at Geilo, Norway in 1980.
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.
The 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, later known as the 1964 Summer Paralympics, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from November 3 to 12, 1964, in which paraplegic and tetraplegic athletes competed against one another. 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.
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.
Netherlands competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville/New York City, United States. The team included 61 athletes, 40 men and 21 women. Competitors from Netherlands won 135 medals, including 55 gold, 52 silver and 28 bronze to finish 7th in the medal table.
Egypt competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain and New York City, United States. The country's 28 representatives participated in several sports including goalball, winning 7 medals.
Kenya competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain and New York City, United States.
Indonesia competed at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain and New York City, United States. Indonesia won 2 medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze and finished joint 41st in the medal table with The Bahamas.
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.
