Essay On The Paralympics

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What are the Paralympics and how do they differ to the Olympics?
The Paralympics are games that allow athletes with disabilities to participate in an international competition against athletes with similar or the same disabilities. There are five different disability groups that are registered in the games. There are nineteen different sports, four of which are unique to the Paralympics.
‘Para’ refers to the Greek term ‘beside’ or ‘alongside’. They chose this because it refers to the fact that members of each movement didn’t want the Olympics and Paralympics to be seen as two competing events, instead they wanted it to be seen as existing side-by-side.
Because the athletes competing in the Paralympics have certain disabilities they are allowed concessions that may help them compete competitively, but do not give them an unfair advantage over other competitors.
History of the Paralympics
Sports had existed for more than 100 years before the Paralympics came into founding. After World War ll the idea of sport for impaired athletes became widely accepted and practiced. The original purpose of the Paralympics was to assist the increasing number of retired war soldiers and injured civilians. In 1944, rehabilitation sport turned slowly into a competitive sport.
At the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in 1948, Dr. Guttmann was a man who organized the very first competitions for athletes limited to wheelchairs (Stoke Mandeville Games). In 1952 a Dutch ex-serviceman supported the cause that Guttmann was trying to promote, and so the International Stoke Mandville Games were created and founded. Later they were changed to the Paralympic Games. The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, twenty three countries took part and since th...

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...no-jump or a scratch which will result with zero points.
-The length of how far the athlete jumped is measured from where the athlete’s foot touched the pit the first landing to the board where they leaped from. Three tries are allowed for each athlete but only the furthest jump counts
-If an athlete falls back after landing, the jump is measured from the closest point of contact to the board.
-Vertical jumping events such as high jump and pole vault have different rules although the similarity is that they get three chances and only the best height counts.
-The height that participants have to jump over (the goal) is marked by a bar. If they clear the goal height they score points for that specific round
-Some events allow athletes to have three chances, others allow athletes to keep trying on higher bars until they fail and they hit the bar.
(sporting99.com, 2012)

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