Essay On The Paralympics

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The Paralympics The Paralympics is a non-profit organization involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympics first started in 1952 in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain with only two countries participating and 130 athletes. Recently in Sochi, Russia they were forty four countries with 502 athletes. With the broad range of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are several sections in which the athletes engage. The acceptable disabilities are broken down into ten categories. The categories are impaired passive range of movement, impaired muscle power, leg length difference, athetosis, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, short stature, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. These categories are then further broken down into divisions, which vary from sport to sport. Even though, Paralympic sports have progressed over time they are still not considered in equality compared to the Olympics due to their lack of funding and broadcasting. Before the Paralympics, athletes performed in the Olympics. The first to do so was George Eyser, American g...

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