Paralympic Games

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the Paralympic Games

The precursor to the Paralympic Games was an event organized in 1948 for Second World War veterans with spinal injuries. See more history. Sixty years on the Paralympics is an integral part of the Olympic Games program, being hosted in the same city as the able bodied Olympic Games.

The 2008 Paralympics are to be held in Beijing, between 6-17 September, which is 12 days after the completion ofthe Olympic Games. These will be the 13th Paralympic Summer Games. About 4000 athletes from 150 countries will take part in 20 sports. For the first time on the Paralympic program, rowing will be included. Unique sports to the Paralympic program include the events goalball, boccia and wheel chair rugby. See more about the Events of the Paralympic Games. For 2008, the sailing events are to be held in Qingdao, while the Equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong.

More Information

• Athletes compete in six classification categories, graded by severity. See Details of Categories
• There are 20 events. See Details of Events

Related Pages

• Summer Olympic Games
• Winter Olympic Games
• other major world sporting events