Parallel to the great Olympic Games, The Paralympic Games are also held with great honour and involves the participation of world class athletes from several nations and countries who are living with some disability. Like the Olympics they are also organized every four years. There is the International Paralympic Committee who are in charge of organizing the games.

Sir Ludwig Guttman who was a famous neuro Surgeon from England was the person behind the initiation of the Paralympic Games. He had organized a sports competition for the World War II survivors who had been suffering from spinal cord injuries on the 28th of July 1948 on the opening day of the Great London Olympic Games. This was the first step towards the Paralympic Games. And then in 1960 in Rome in Italy Guttmans dreams of the Paralympic Games finally came true.

The word “Paralympics” signifies “parallel Olympics” which is held for the athletes who are disabled in some ways or the other. The Paralympic Summer Games came to be organized every four years since the year 1988. The games are held for six different groups of the athletes. The games also include cerebral palsy patients, amputees and the blind athletes.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960 where it was participated upon by about 400 athletes from 23 nations all over the world. Since then, in the year 2000 the Paralympic Games were participated upon by over 4000 athletes from 128 different countries from all over the world. The 2000 Paralympic Games were held in Sydney and is considered as the biggest Paralympic Games till date where 18 different sports were organized.

The first winter Paralympics were organized in 1976 in Ornskoldsvik in Sweden. Over 250 athletes from 14 various countries of the world took part in the games. The Paralympic Games have started taking place at the same venues as that of the Olympic Games since the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Summer Games which was held in South Korea.

Some of the summer Paralympic Games includes basketball, cycling, table tennis, archery, boccie ball, track, bowling, fencing, judo, goal ball, equestrian events, soccer, tennis, shooting, swimming, volleyball and weightlifting. Some of the Winter Paralympic Games includes ice-sledge hockey, skiing, ice-sled, and biathlon.

Icons, flags and symbols are used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games.

The motto of the games is “Spirit in Motion” which was introduced in 2004 at the Paralympic Games in Athens.

The symbol of the Paralympic Games is composed of three “agitos”, of blue, green and red colours that encircles a single point on a white back ground. The colours are those which are mostly seen on the national flags of different countries. These colours have been chosen to signify the spirit of the Paralympic games and the unity and peace. The Paralympic symbol is also used to inspire the sporting excellence of the athletes who take part in the games in spite of their disabilities.

This Paralympic symbol was for the first time in 2003. Due to shortage of time before the 2004 Paralympic Summer Games that was held in Athens, the new symbol could not be used by participating delegations during the Games. However during the 2004 Closing Ceremony the flag which was handed over to Beijing consisted of the new symbol. It was first used as the Paralympic emblem during the Paralympic Winter games of 2006 that was held in Torino.

THE FLAME AND TORCH RELAY: the Paralympic Flame is lit many days before the actual opening of the Games. The lighting of the flame is held generally at a site decided by the host city of the Games and then the torch is taken around the various cities of the country where the Paralympics are being held that year. The Paralympic torch is carried by leaders, athletes, ordinary people and celebrities who have achieved honour in the world of sports. On the final day of the torch relay, which is scheduled to be the opening day for the Games, the Flame is taken back to the main stadium and is used to light a cauldron located at the top of the main venue. The event of the lighting of the cauldron signifies the starting of the Paralympic Games. The flame then burns till the end of the ceremony and is extinguished only after the end of the games at the ending ceremony.

In concert with the pre-Games events, the ten-day Paralympic Torch Relay celebrates the beginning of the Paralympic Games as it represents the spirit of the heroes who, despite of their disabilities, have excellent athletic qualities. The Paralympic flame has no traditional launching location, but each relay team organizes its own starting-point, accompanying ceremony and the ignition method. The Paralympic Torch Relay has been an integral part of the Paralympic Games since 1988, represents the success of the Paralympic Games.