Firstly, what is it? The word Paralympics means “parallel with the Olympics”, with the para prefix coming from the Greek word for alongside. The name was chosen to embody the spirit of the two movements existing side-by-side. The Paralympic Games is mirrors the Olympic Games with the exception that it features disabled athletes in sporting events catered to their physical limitations. Paralympic participants may have physical disabilities that impede their mobility. Many disabled athletes may have disfigured or amputated limbs, blindness, or skeletal disease. As with the major Olympic Games, the Paralympics hosts winter and summer sporting events that immediately follow the main Olympics. The International Paralympic Committee hosts and governs all of the Paralympic Games.
The Paralympic Games began in Rome in 1960 and have been held every Olympic year since, usually in the city or country hosting the Olympic Games.