Paralympic Games
What are the Paralympics?
The Paralympic games are known to be the main largest global event for disabled athletes. In such Olympic games Paralympic athletes are classified as per their physical disability, allowing them to compete against other athletes sharing common disabilities. Being a total of 27 games, the sports are set and customized to match conditions such as: Amputee, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Disability, Wheelchair, visual Impairment, etc…
When do they happen?
Ever since the winter of 1976, the Paralympic games have been taking place every four years. The sports are distributed among Summer and winter season matching the sports requirements in weather conditions.
Summer games: Blind football, Boccia, Goalball, Para archery, Para athletics, Para badminton, Para canoe, Para cycling, Para equestrian, Para judo, Para powerlifting, Para rowing, Para swimming, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo, Para triathlon, Shooting Parasport, Sitting volleyball, Wheelchair basketball, Wheelchair fencing, Wheelchair rugby, Wheelchair tennis.
Winter games: Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, Para snowboard, Wheelchair curling.
Where do they take place?
Since the first Paralympics, most games have been primarily hosted in Europe, Asia, and North America. The host cities are chosen by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) being selected 7 years before occurrence. As the selection process takes around 2 years, any cities worldwide are free to apply to host the Paralympic events and will be chosen based on references within the applications. Following the application step, the possible cities are evaluated meticulously by an Evaluation commission. In the final step, a host city is then chosen by vote mainly carried through the IOC members.
Egyptians in the Paralympics?
Egypt has been participating in the Paralympics ever since 1972 investing in specific team sports as: wheelchair basketball, hearing-impaired football, goalball and sitting volleyball. As for the individual sports, Egyptian athletes have contributed to Archery, cycling, shooting and lawn bowls; however, by not going further than national level. Over the years, the Egyptian Paralympic athletes have managed to achieve a total of 183 medals, having 49 being Gold, 69 Silver, and 65 Bronze medals.
