The Paralympic games started as a sports competition was organized involving World War II veterans with disabilities in 1948. The first official Olympic-style games for people with disabilities was organized in Rome in 1960. In 2004, 3806 athletes from 136 countries participated in the Paralympic games in Athens, and this was a huge increase compared to the 400 athletes from 23 countries that attended the 1960 games.

If you’ve never seen the Paralympic games, they are incredible. These men and women have overcome great difficulties and are in tip-top physical shape. Many talk of the Olympics as being the pinnacle of the human spirit, but I believe they are wrong. The true human spirit can be found in the games that follow the Olympics; the Paralympics.

Tags: athletes, competition, difficulties, disabilities, disabled, human spirit, Paralympic games

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