Paralympic heritage

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 sports competition that involved World War II soldiers with spinal cord injuries based in Stoke Mandeville hospital.

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

Four years later, athletes from Holland joined in and the international movement - or ‘Paralympic Games’ - 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 a disability and staged many international events, including both the World Swimming Championships and World Equestrian Championships (1994) and 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.