Skip to main content

Key Points in the History and Development of the Paralympic Games

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to look at some of the key points in the history and development of the Paralympic Games from their early beginnings as a rehabilitation and awareness raising event as the Stoke Mandeville Games to them becoming the second largest multi-sport event on the planet after the Olympic Games. In order to do this I have split this history into four time periods that cover what I perceive to be the key phases in the conception and development of the Paralympic Games. Given that I will not be able to cover every issue that has played a part in the development of the Paralympic Games over the last seventy years I have tried to select what I consider the things that have had the biggest impact in each of the four time periods selected.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • BOCOG. 2008. Guidelines to Classification. http://www.csd.gob.es/csd/estaticos/historia-participacion/pekin2008/jjpp/clasificacion.pdf

  • Brittain, I. 2002. Elite Athletes with Disabilities: Problems and Possibilities. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. From Stoke Mandeville to Sochi: A History of the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. The Paralympic Games Explained. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brittain, I., and S.E. Green. 2012. Disability Sport Is Going Back to Its Roots: Rehabilitation of Military Personnel Suffering Sudden Traumatic Disablement in the Twenty-First Century. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise 4 (2): 244–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Channel4 website. 2015. Guide to Sochi 2014 Paralympic Classifications. Retrieved from http://lexi.channel4.com/

  • Goodman, S. 1986. Spirit of Stoke Mandeville: The Story of Sir Ludwig Guttmann. London: Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guttmann, L. 1952. On the Way to an International Sports Movement for the Paralysed. The Cord 5 (3): 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1976. Textbook of Sport for the Disabled. Aylesbury: HM and M Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, P.D. 2008. The Cultural Politics of the Paralympic Movement: Through an Anthropological Lens. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, P.D., and C. Jones. 2006. Classification of Disabled Athletes: (Dis)Empowering the Paralympic Practice Community. Sociology of Sport Journal 23: 29–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood, R., and A. Lockwood. 2007. Rolling Back the Years: A History of Wheelchair Sports in Western Australia. Perth: Wheelchair Sports WA Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCann, C. 1996. Sports for the Disabled: The Evolution from Rehabilitation to Competitive Sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine 30 (4): 279–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering Francis, L. 2005. Competitive Sports, Disability, and Problems of Justice in Sports. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 32: 127–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweikert, H. 1955. Pan Am Jets Take Part in Paralympics. Paraplegia News, September 1955, 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scruton, J. 1957. The 1957 International Stoke Mandeville Games. The Cord 9 (4): 7–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1998. Stoke Mandeville: Road to the Paralympics. Aylesbury: The Peterhouse Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Cord. 1955. International Games Stoke Mandeville, 7(5), 7–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenn, Stephen R., Robert Knight Barney, and Scott G. Martyn. 2011. Tarnished Rings: The International Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake City Bidding Scandal. New York: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Brittain, I. (2018). Key Points in the History and Development of the Paralympic Games. In: Brittain, I., Beacom, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47901-3_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47901-3_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-47900-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47901-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics