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The Paralympic Games officially began in Paris on Wednesday.
More than 4000 athletes will compete in 22 disciplines in the 11-day Para-World Games.
A total of 84 athletes from India are participating in the games. It also includes Telugu players. The closing ceremony will take place on September 8.
When did the Paralympics begin?
Dr. Ludwig Gutman, a Jewish doctor who had fled Nazi Germany just before the start of World War II, first organized these competitions. The Paralympics began on July 29, 1948, with wheelchair athletes at the London Olympics. 16 soldiers, including women, participated in the archery event. All these soldiers were wounded and disabled.
Ludwig originally named the games ‘Stoke Mandeville Games’. He set up a treatment center for spinal cord injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. Sports are named after this hospital.
After that, the Stoke Mandeville Games became the Paralympic Games. In 1960, 400 athletes from 23 countries participated in the first competition of the same name in Rome.
Special sports
Two sports that are not in the Olympics can only be seen in the Paralympics. They’re the goal ball, Bochia.
Goal ball is especially for players whose eyesight is poor.
Two teams consisting of three athletes each will face off in the game on an indoor court the size of volleyball.
In this, the eyes of the players are blindfolded. Players block the ball from reaching their net by using the entire body. The opponent needs to send the ball into the net to score points.
During the goal ball match, the entire crowd should be completely silent. Only then will the players be able to hear the sound of the ball rolling. You will be able to intercept the ball. The ball used in this game has hours.
Bochia is a game designed for wheelchair athletes. It’s almost like a game called ‘Bowls’. Bochia plays on an indoor court the size of a badminton court.