Home : London Paralympics 2012

London Paralympics 2012!

      • Paralympic Archery
      • Paralympic Athletics
      • Boccia
      • Paralympic Cycling - Road
      • Paralympic Cycling - Track
      • Paralympic Equestrian
      • Football 5-a-side
      • Football 7-a-side
      • Goalball
      • Paralympic Judo
      • Powerlifting
      • Paralympic Rowing
      • Paralympic Sailing
      • Paralympic Shooting
      • Paralympic Swimming
      • Paralympic Table Tennis
      • Volleyball - Sitting
      • Wheelchair Basketball
      • Wheelchair Fencing
      • Wheelchair Rugby
      • Wheelchair Tennis

Paralympic Games Heritage

The UK is the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games are being planned together with the Olympic Games and will be something truly special.

The UK has a strong link to the Paralympic Games. In 1948, Dr Ludwig Guttmann organised a wheelchair archery competition at Stoke Mandeville hospital for World War II soldiers with spinal cord injuries.

The competition took place between sports clubs and other hospitals on the same day as the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Four years later, as more sports were added, athletes from Holland joined in and the international Paralympic Movement was born. Read more about Paralympic Games History on the International Paralympic Committee Website.

The UK has kept up its pioneering role in sport for athletes with disabilities and has staged many international events, including the World Swimming Championships and World Equestrian Championships (1994), as well as the World Athletics Championships (1998).

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, events for athletes with disabilities ran alongside the other competitions at the main venues.