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).
The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organizing Committees. In this edition, a record 3,801 athletes from 120 National Paralympic Committees participated in 551 events in 18 sports, and until the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, it was the second largest sporting event ever until that date held in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney was the eighth city to host the Olympics and the Paralympics on same venues at the same year, and the first since Barcelona 1992 that they were organized in complete conjunction with the Olympics. They were also the first Paralympic Games outside the Northern Hemisphere and also in Oceania.
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
The 1982 Commonwealth Games was held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium, in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the athletics and archery events venue. Other events were held at the purpose-built Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gabba has hosted athletics, Australian rules football, baseball, concerts, cricket, cycling, rugby league, rugby union, Association football and pony and greyhound racing. At present, it serves as the home ground for the Queensland Bulls in domestic cricket, the Brisbane Heat of the Big Bash League and Women's Big Bash League, and the Brisbane Lions of the Australian Football League. It is also the secondary home of the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. The stadium will receive an upgrade for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre is a multi-purpose sports facility in Nathan, Queensland, located 10 kilometres south-east of the Brisbane CBD. Its main stadium – formerly known as QEII Stadium, and later ANZ Stadium under a naming rights agreement with ANZ – accommodates 48,500 spectators, while its smaller State Athletics Facility accommodates 2,100 spectators. Both stadiums feature Rekortan running tracks and natural grass fields. The Queensland Academy of Sport, Queensland State Netball Centre, and a complex of beach volleyball courts are also housed at the facility. QSAC is owned by the Queensland Government, and its main stadium and State Athletics Facility are operated through its agency, Stadiums Queensland.
Ballymore is a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It is the headquarters of Queensland Rugby Union and was the home ground of the Brisbane City team in the National Rugby Championship, until the league's disbandment in 2019. It is also used as a training facility for the Queensland Reds and Australian Wallabies rugby teams.
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) is located on the Gold Coast Highway, in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The venue was opened on the 29th of June 2004 at a cost of A$167 million. It is linked by a covered walkway to The Star Gold Coast. Managed by the Star Entertainment Group, the Centre caters for 10 to 6,000 people.
Priya Naree Cooper, is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Australia was the host nation for the 2000 Summer Paralympics which was held in Sydney. Australia competed in the games between 18 and 29 October. The team consisted of 285 athletes in 18 sports with 148 officials. It was the country's largest ever Paralympic delegation to a Games. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games since its inception. Australia finished at the top of the medal tally with 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze medals to total 149 medals for the games. This was the first time and the only time to date that Australia has finished on top of either an Olympic or Paralympic medal tally.
Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.
Kenya competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. They were represented by 13 sportspeople, 5 women and 8 men, at the Sydney, Australia hosted Games. Kenyan Paralympians won four medals at these games, one gold, one silver and two bronze.
Karni Liddell is a Paralympic swimming competitor from Australia.
The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association was the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland.
The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032 is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place between 23 July to 8 August 2032, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The selection of the host for the 2032 Summer Olympics saw a new process being introduced from 2019. The bidding process saw Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, chosen as the preferred and expected host that was officially certified by the IOC on the eve of the 2020 Summer Olympics on 21 July 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
Brisbane 2032 is a successful bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics by the city of Brisbane and the Australian Olympic Committee. On 10 June 2021, the bid won IOC board approval and is expected to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. Brisbane officially received the rights to host the Olympics on 21 July 2021. Brisbane became the first host city to win the bid unopposed since 1984.
Robyn Smith OAM is a leading Australian sport administrator particularly in the area for disability sport. In 2021, she was elected as an Independent Member on the Governing Board of the International Paralympic Committee.
Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (BNEOCOG) was established by the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games Arrangements Act 2021 passed by the Queensland Parliament in December 2021. It is a statutory authority and its role is "to plan, organise and deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games in accordance with the host contract".
