7 September: The Paralympic Games

The Paralympic games begin in Rio today, so here are ten things you might not know about the Paralympics:

1. The word "Paralympic" was originally a portmanteau combining "paraplegic" (since in the beginning, the games were specifically for people with spinal injuries) and "Olympic." Now there are many more categories of disabilities eligible to take part, the official explanation for the name is that "para" is from the Greek word meaning "beside" or "alongside" as the contest is held in parallel with the Olympic Games.
2. The first precursor to the Paralympics was held in 1948, hosted by Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital. That contest was for World War II veterans with spinal chord injuries and coincided with the opening of the 1948 London Olympics. In Rome in 1960 the games were opened up to disabled people who weren't war veterans, and in 1976, athletes with different disabilities were included. The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
3. In Rome in 1960, just 400 athletes took part. In 2008, the number had grown to over 3,900.
4. The Paralympic motto is “Spirit in Motion” and the anthem is "Hymn de l'Avenir" or "Anthem of the Future", composed by Thierry Darnis and adopted as the official anthem in March 1996.
5. The Paralympic symbol has three colours - Red, Blue and Green, the three colours most popularly used in national Flags. The flag has three "Agitos", one in each colour. An Agito is an asymmetrical crescent specially designed for the Paralympic movement. The word Agito is Latin for "I move".
6. There are a small number of athletes who have competed in both the Olympics and the Paralympics, the first of which was Neroli Fairhall, a Paralympic archer from New Zealand, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
7. Before the Paralympics became a regular event, there were disabled athletes who competed in the Olympics - they include German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, who had one artificial leg; Hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in 1948 and 1952. He was a right-arm amputee and could shoot left-handed; and Lis Hartel, a Danish equestrian athlete who had contracted polio in 1943 and won a Silver medal in the dressage event.
8. There are four sports unique to the Paralympics, not appearing in the Olympics games at all. These are Goalball, a game for visually impaired athletes, who all wear black-out masks so there is no advantage to people who are less visually impaired than others; Boccia, a sport played by pairs of athletes with cerebral palsy, which is similar to lawn bowls; Wheelchair Rugby and Powerlifting – similar to weightlifting, but using the upper body only.
9. The Paralympian to win the most medals ever is Trischa Zorn of the United States. She competed in the blind swimming events and won 55 medals, 41 of which were Gold. Ragnhild Myklebust of Norway holds the record for the most medals ever won at the Winter Paralympic Games. Competing in a variety of events in 1988, 1992, 1994 and 2002, she won a total of 22 medals, of which 17 were gold.
10. There are eight different categories of physical impairment including Loss of limb or limb deficiency, impaired muscle power, ataxia, or impaired co-ordination. There are also degrees of visual impairment, an intellectual disability.