National Paralympic Committee of Iran honors the 75th anniversary of International Paralympic Movement.
Iran NPC, Tehran- On the occasion of the 75th Birth Anniversary of International
Paralympic Movement, the National Paralympic Committee of Iran praises all the efforts
undertaken by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to overcome the
challenges, expand the Movement all over the world, and to give sporting
opportunities to the athletes with disabilities of the entire world to make
their Paralympic dreams come true.
War and Peace; Movement’s Birth
During the 1940s a large number of
veterans and civilians were suffering due to their mental and physical injuries
as the long-term effects of World War II.
In 1944, at the request of the
British Government, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann opened a spinal injuries centre at the
Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Great Britain, and in time, rehabilitation sport
evolved to recreational sport and then to competitive sport.
It started in 1948, as a
rehabilitation sport competition and became Paralympic Games. The most
transformative events on the Earth.
On 29 July 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttman
created the first tournament for wheelchair athletes at Stoke Mandevillle Hospital.
He couldn't imagine that in 1960, it would become the first Paralympic Games in
Rome.
The event was held to coincide with
the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
It was the first steps of the Movement that goes beyond the sport. It's about inclusion, diversity and a more equal world to everyone. And Paralympic World Family believe this change starts with sport.
Dr. Ludwig Guttmann was a respected Jewish
neurosurgeon who had been forced to flee his homeland of Germany in 1939 to
escape Nazi persecution. Five years later, he was asked by the British
government to open a Spinal Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville, intended to
treat soldiers and civilians injured during the war. As part of his treatment
for the injured veterans, Guttmann promoted sport as a means of physical and
mental rehabilitation.
The Stoke Mandeville Games later
became the Paralympic Games, which first took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960
featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries.
In 1976 the first Winter Games in
Paralympics history were held in Sweden, and as with the Summer Games, have
taken place every four years, and include a Paralympics Opening Ceremony and
Paralympics Closing Ceremony.
The International Paralympic
Committee was founded in 1989 in Dusseldorf, Germany, to act as the global
governing body of the Paralympic Movement.