BLOG: What does the ‘Para’ in Paralympics mean?

The word “Paralympic“ derives from the Greek preposition “para“ (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic“.

Its meaning is that Paralympics are the parallel Games to the Olympics and illustrates how the two movements exist side-by-side.

Whilst the first Paralympic Games were held in 1960, it was not until the summer Paralympic Games in Seoul, Korea in 1988 and the Paralympic Winter Games in Albertville, France in 1992 that the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games truly ran side by side. It was at those Games where both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were held in the same city for the first time. Since then, all Olympic and Paralympic Games have been held in the same city every four years thanks to an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In order to uncover the history of the term “Paralympic“, we need to go back to the founding of the IPC back in September 1989. The IPC was founded as an international non-profit organisation in Dusseldorf, Germany, to act as the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement.

The history of the Paralympic Games

Whilst sport for athletes with impairments has existed for over 100 years, it was not until after World War II that the formation of the Paralympic Games took place.

Following the war, organised sports for athletes with impairments (called today Para athletes) were set up to assist a large number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during the war.

You can read more about the history of the Paralympic Games in one of our previous posts but here is a brief summary.

Whilst the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960, the start of the Paralympic Movement dates back much earlier to 1944. Following World War Two, the British Government opened up a spinal injuries centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital which grew into a rehabilitation centre.

It was in Stoke Mandeville that recreational and then competitive sport evolved and in 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised the first competitive games for athletes with impairments. As chance would have it, the day of the first competitive games coincided with the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 London Olympic Games.

It was 12 years until the informal Games set up by Dr Guttmann were transformed and the first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960 with 400 athletes from 23 countries.

Jump ahead 60 years to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – the first Paralympics ever to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and we are counting down to the start of the Paralympics with Para athletes from all over the world, including New Zealand, preparing to head to Tokyo to compete.

What will the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games hold for Para athletes?

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will represent a very different experience for Para athletes attending the Paralympics.

The COVID-19 pandemic means that the Paralympic Village experience will be very different to past Paralympics. The pandemic means that teams will be kept separate at all times in the village and competitors will be restricted to contact with competitors in the same events only.

Whilst this will be a disappointment for some, the opportunity to compete in the Paralympic Games, for some Para athletes, for the first time, is too big an opportunity to miss out on and every precaution will be put in place to ensure the safety of all competitors at Tokyo 2020.

New Zealand will take a team of 29 Para athletes to Tokyo to compete across six different sporting disciplines including Para athletics, Para canoe, Para cycling, Para swimming, Shooting Para sport and Wheelchair rugby.

Paralympian/Para athlete	Resides	Classification	Impairment (Disability)	Coach	Club
Para athletics
Paralympian #183 Holly Robinson	Dunedin	F46	Limb deficiency	Raylene Bates	Athletics Taieri
Caitlin Dore #192	Christchurch	F37	Cerebral palsy	Hayden Hall	Athletics Taieri
Anna Grimaldi MNZM #195	Dunedin	T47	Limb deficiency	Brent Ward	Hill City University Athletic Club
William Stedman #208	Christchurch	T36	Cerebral palsy	George Edwards	Port Hills Athletic Club
Lisa Adams	Rotorua	F37	Cerebral palsy	Dame Valerie Adams	Lake City Athletic Club
Danielle Aitchison	Hamilton	T36	Cerebral palsy	Alan McDonald	Hamilton City Hawks Athletics
Anna Steven	Auckland	T64	Amputee	Hamish Meacham	North Harbour Bay Athletics
Ben Tuimaseve	Auckland	F37	Cerebral palsy	Paralympian #31 John Eden	Owairaka Amateur Athletic and Harrier Club
Para canoe
Scott Martlew #198	Christchurch	KL2/VL3	Limb deficiency	Leigh Barker	Arawa Canoe Club
Corbin Hart	Auckland	KL3	Limb deficiency	Gavin Elmiger	North Shore Canoe Club
Para cycling
Stephen Hills #196	New Plymouth	T2	Right side hemiplegia	Stu MacDonald	Hawera Cycling Club
Sarah Ellington	Auckland	C2	Spinal cord injury	Stu MacDonald	Counties Manukau Cycling
Eltje Malzbender	Cambridge	T1	Traumatic brain injury (hypertonia)	Michael Bland	Morrinsville Wheelers
Rory Mead	USA	H2	Spinal cord injury	Stu MacDonald	Wellington Masters Cycling Club
Nicole Murray	Otorohanga	C5	Limb deficiency	Stu MacDonald	Waikato
Anna Taylor	Cambridge	C4	Cauda equina (partial loss of power)	Damian Wiseman	Te Awamutu
Para swimming
Sophie Pascoe #166	Christchurch	S9, SB8, SM9	Single limb deficiency	Roly Crichton	QE11
Nikita Howarth #179	Te Awamutu	S7, SB7, SM7	Double limb deficiency	Mat Woofe	Hamilton Aquatic
Tupou Neiufi #201	Auckland	S8, SB8, SM8	Hypertonia	Sheldon Kemp	Pukekohe
Jesse Reynolds #205	Auckland	S9, SB8, SM9	Single limb deficiency	Simon Mayne	Fairfield
Shooting Para sport
Michael Johnson MNZM #148	Auckland	SH2C	Spinal cord injury	Freddy Krumm	ParaFed Auckland Shooting Club
Wheelchair rugby
Hayden Barton-Cootes	Auckland	3.0 P	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Cody Everson	Christchurch	1.0 P	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Robert Hewitt	Hamilton	2.0 P	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Barney Koneferenisi	Auckland	3.5	Amputee	Greg Mitchell
Tainafi Lefono	Auckland	2.0 P	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Gareth Lynch	Auckland	1.0 (1)	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Gavin Rolton	Wellington	0.5 P	Spinal cord injury	Greg Mitchell
Mike Todd	Christchurch	2.0 P	Muscle degeneration	Greg Mitchell