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Paralympics 
History of Paralympics
1948
On July 28th, 1948, the opening ceremony of the I. Olympic Summer Games after World War II takes place in London/United Kingdom. In Aylesbury (close to London) the Stoke Mandeville Games take place on the same day. Sir Ludwig Guttmann decides to develop those games into internationally recognized sporting competitions for athletes with a disability on the same level as Olympic Games.
1960
The I. Paralympic Games take place in Rome/Italy. 400 Athletes representing 21 nations (initially only wheelchair-athletes) participate.
1964
335 athletes compete at the II. Paralympics in Tokyo/Japan.
1968
Host city of the III. Paralympics is Tel Aviv/Israel. 750 athletes and 29 nations take part in the competitions.
1972
At the IV. Paralympics in Heidelberg/Germany athlete participation for the first time exceeds 1000.
1976
For the first time amputees and visually impaired athletes take part in Toronto/Canada at the V. Paralympics. 1.600 athletes from 42 nations compete. Another premiere takes place in Ornsköldsvik/Sweden: the I.Paralympic Winter Games. 250 skiers from 14 nations battle for gold.
1980
Arnheim/Netherlands hosts the VI. Paralympics and a new record of participating athletes is announced: 2.500 athletes and 42 nations participate in the games. The II. Winter Games take place in Geilo/Norway. 18 countries send 350 participants.
1984
After Yugoslavia is forced to cancel, Austria steps in to host the Winter Games in Innsbruck. New standards are set in skiing for athletes with a disability. The Summer Games take place in Long Island/USA without wheelchair athletes. They compete for medals Stoke, Mandeville/Great Britain.
1988
The Winter Paralympics are held in Innsbruck/Austria for the 2nd time in a row. 397 athletes and 22 nations compete. In Seoul/Korea the Summer Paralympics take place at the same facilities as the Olympic Games with 3.053 athletes from 61 countries.
1992
Tignes/France hosts the V. Winter Games. Barcelona/Spain organises exciting IX. Summer Paralympics for 3.020 athletes and an enthusiastic crowd of spectators.
1994
Lillehammer/Norway sets new standards at Winter Paralympics. 1.000 athletes and 31 nations participate.
1996
Atlanta/USA boasts a record-setting number of participants at the X. Summer Games. 3.195 athletes arrive to compete.
1998
Nagano/Japan hosts the VII. Paralympic Winter Games.
2000
Sydney/Australia shows the world just what is possible in terms of organization and execution of major events. 4.000 athletes from 125 countries compete before a crowd of 650.000 spectators for Paralympic Gold.
2001
An agreement is signed between the International Olympic Comite/IOC and the International Paralympic Committee/IPC, which states that the Paralympic Games are to be held always 10 days following the close of the Olympic Games.
2002
Salt Lake City/USA is host city of the VIII. Winter Paralympics. 500 athletes from 35 countries meet to determine who will be champion of the champions.
2004
4.000 athletes and 136 nations start in 19 sports at the XII. Summer Paralympics in Athens/Greece- birthplace of the Olympic movement.
2006
During the IX. Winter Paralympics in Torino/Italy 477 athletes from 39 countries compete for a total of 70 medals. The media coverage is assured by more than 1.000 representatvies.
2008
The XIII. Summer Paralympics took place from September 06 to 17, 2008 in Beijing/China. More than 4.000 athletes competed in 19 sports.
2010
The X. Winter Paralympics took place in Vancouver/Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. More than 600 athletes from more than 40 nations participated.
2012
The XIV. Summer Paralympics will be held in London/Great Britain from August 29 to September 09, 2012.
2014
Host city for the XI. Winter Paralympics is Sochi/Russia.
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