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Athletics at the Paralympic Games

Para Athletics is a sport encompassing a large range of track and field events for both men and women, of all impairment groups. Involving both individuals and teams, athletics has been at the Paralympic games right from the start, which was Rome 1960. Over the following 20 years more and more impairment groups were added. Today, disabled athletes in over 120 countries compete in athletics, making it the number one most participated Paralympic sport.



In track events, the athlete that completes the event in the fastest time wins. But, in field events the winner is not always the athlete who throws the specified item furthest. Each event will take into account the extent of an athlete’s impairment and their distance thrown. They get points for this total, and the winner is the athlete with the most points.

a Paralympic sprinter a US Paralympic sprinter

There are a range of track events at the Paralympics such as sprints, middle and long distance races, relay races. Then there are the field events which are the high jump, long jump, triple jump, discus throw, club throw, shot put and javelin. Not to forget the single road event which is the marathon race, and the combination of events known as the pentathlon.

Paralympic Specific Events

Discontinued Para Athletics Events

Here are just some fo the discontinued Paralympic sports or events which were once part of the athletics program. See a larger list of discontinued Paralympic sports and events.

Trivia



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Paralympics Extra

The next Summer Paralympics will be in Paris 2024, followed by the 2026 Winter Paralympics. Also, check out the list of Paralympic sports, and top medal winners.

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.

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