The first Paralympics were held in Rome, Italy, in 1960.
This month, over 4,000 disabled athletes will gather in Paris, France, to take part in the global sporting spectacle, competing in over 500 medal events across 22 different sports.
Most Paralympic events are the same as those in the Olympics – like swimming, cycling, athletics, table tennis and taekwondo – but they're adapted for people with different disabilities. For example, basketball and rugby are played by wheelchair users. Many events are divided into ‘classifications‘ so that athletes with a similar ‘level of impairment’ can compete fairly against each other.
Two sports are unique to the Paralympics – boccia, where teams throw, kick or use a ramp to move balls around a court, and goalball, where blind athletes throw a ball…
