“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part;
the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
~ Pierre de Coubertin, founder of modern Olympic Games
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“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” ~ Pierre de Coubertin, founder of modern Olympic Games |
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In this site, these are the articles surrounding the Olympics:
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Another form of the Olympics is the Paralympics. These games were formed so that men and woman who have been paralyzed can still participate. They were organized in 1948 by a Sir Ludwig Guttmann when he created a sports competition in order to involve World War II veterans who were suffering from spinal cord injuries. This event occurred in Stoke Mandeville, England. The Netherlands adopted these games four years later and soon an “international movement” began. The first actual organized Paralympics was in Rome in 1960. This same year, they also organized the first ever Paralympics Winter Sports in Sweden. From there, the Paralympic Games have grown until now there are events created for six different disability groups! Also, there are now approximately 2806 participants from 136 countries as opposed to the 400 athletes that were part of the games in Rome in 1960. Since the start of the Paralympic Games, they have been held during the same years as the Olympics Games. This agreement was reached in June 2001, when the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) signed for them to continue occurring on the same years. In addition, beginning in 2012, the Olympics and the Paralympics will be hosted at the same places in the same years. As you can see, the IPC works just like the IOC works for the regular Olympics. They make all of the final decisions about the winter and summer Paralympic Games. They also encourage and pursue the Paralympic values: courage, determination, inspiration, and equality. This organization was founded on September 22, 1989; 29 years after the actual Paralympics began. Since the beginning of these Games, more and more people have been joining. It is a fantastic chance to include those who may or may not have been in the Olympics before their paralysis, and now they have the change to fairly compete against others in their condition. Sources PC. "Paralympic Games." International Paralympic Committee. 2008. International Paralympic Committee. 12 Feb 2008 <http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/Paralympic_Games/>.> IPC. "Paralympic Games." Official Website of the Olympic Movement. 2008. IOC. 16 Feb 2008 <http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/paralympic/index_uk.asp>. |
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Last modified: 04/02/08 |