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 International Paralympic Committee is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.
The World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, known before the 2017 edition as the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, along with the Winter Paralympic Games, are the most prestigious level of international competition in Paralympic alpine skiing. First held in 1974, the World Championships have been held every four years from 1982 to 2004; beginning in 2009, they have been held every other year, in odd-numbered years.
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winning 30 medals. She has won over 50 world championship medals.
Cheating at the Paralympic Games has caused scandals that have significantly changed the way in which the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) manages the events.
Theresa Goh Rui SiBBM is a Singaporean swimmer and Paralympic medalist, with a bronze at the SB4 100m breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. She holds the world records for the SB4 50 metres and 200 metres breaststroke events.
The World Para Ice Hockey Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, are the world championships for sledge hockey. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee through its World Para Ice Hockey subcommittee.
The World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing World Championships, along with the Winter Paralympic Games, are the most prestigious level of international competition in Paralympic nordic skiing.
Disability sports classification is a system that allows for fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.
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.
The World Para Swimming European Championships, known until 2018 as the IPC Swimming European Championships, are the European continental championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. Each championship is organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and behind the World Para Swimming Championships and the Summer Paralympic Games is the largest meet for European athletes. No championships were held in 2022.
The World Para Powerlifting Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Powerlifting World Championships, is an event organized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Competitors with a physical disability compete, and in a few events athletes with an intellectual disability compete. First held in 1994, the competition was held every four years. Since 2017, it is held every two years. The competitions are also part of the qualification process to compete at the Summer Paralympics.
France competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for four athletes in sailing events.
Aurélie Rivard is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer. After winning three Paralympics gold medals, claiming a silver Paralympic medal and setting two World Records and a Paralympic Record at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Paraswimmer was named Canada's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.
The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was the eighth IPC Swimming World Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at the games, with Russia topping the tables with most gold medals and medals won. The event was held at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre located within Tollcross Park in Glasgow. Initially awarded as the IPC Swimming European Championships, the event was upgraded to a World Championship after a change to the IPC calendar.
Tully Alicia Jacqueline Kearney is a British Paralympic swimmer. Kearney competes in the S5/SB3 classification for swimmers with physical disabilities. She won Gold and Silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games setting World records in both the 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She has also won medals in four IPC Swimming World Championships winning Bronze in the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, setting a British record; four Golds, a Silver and a Bronze in the 2015 World Championships setting three European records and becoming GB's highest medal earner of the Championships, and three Golds at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2019, setting three British records and two Championship records, repeating this in the 2022 World Championships in Madeira where she broke three World Records. Kearney also won Gold and Bronze at the World Para Swimming European Championships in 2018. Kearney is a multiple British, European and World record holder.
The World Shooting Para Sport Championships, originally known as the IPC Shooting World Championships, are the world championships for shooting where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on a four year rotation with the Paralympic Games.
Wheelchair sport classification is a system designed to allow fair competition between people of different disabilities, and minimize the impact of a person's specific disability on the outcome of a competition. Wheelchair sports is associated with spinal cord injuries, and includes a number of different types of disabilities including paraplegia, quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome and spina bifida. The disability must meet minimal body function impairment requirements. Wheelchair sport and sport for people with spinal cord injuries is often based on the location of lesions on the spinal cord and their association with physical disability and functionality.
