The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960

In 1943, the British Government entrusted Ludwig Guttman, a German doctor exiled in Great Britain, with the creation of a spine unit at the Stoke Mandeville hospital. Guttmann, a pioneer in the use of sport as part of physical and psychological rehabilitation, organized the first national competition for athletes in wheelchairs on the 29th of July, 1948, coinciding with the London Olympic Games. This event, known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, marked a milestone to bring together sixteen competitors in the archery modality.

From Roma, 1960 to Barcelona, 1992

The first “Olympic games for the disabled” (the term Paralympic Games was not coined until the nineteen eighties) took place in Rome, between the 19th and the 24th of September, 1960 and they included eight modalities of different sports.

Over four hundred wheelchair athletes from twenty-three different countries took part, although Spain did not take part in the competition as it did not have its own federation. Over the following decades, the Paralympic Games were held intercalated and did not coincide with the Olympic Games until Seoul 1988, a key event for the paralympic movement.

Later on, Barcelona 1992 consolidated this format, sharing installations and organization with the Olympic Games and important innovations were introduced such as the minimum scores for participation, the anti-doping controls and a new classification system. Additionally, the even had its own television signal for the first time that was made available for the other chains all over the world.  

Since 1992, the Paralympic Games have continued to evolve and they are now formed by twenty-two sporting disciplines, divided up between the summer and winter games. With the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the next event will be the Winter Paralympic Games, which will be held from the 6th to the 15th of March, 2026.