Overview

Para-sport is sport for athletes with an impairment and has existed for more than 100 years.

It was not until after World War II however, that it was widely introduced. The purpose of it at that time was to assist the large number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during wartime.

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.

On 29 July 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games, Dr. Guttmann organised the first competition for wheelchair athletes which he named the Stoke Mandeville Games, a milestone in Paralympics history. They involved 16 injured servicemen and women who took part in archery. In 1952, Dutch ex-servicemen joined the Movement and the International Stoke Mandeville Games were founded.

These Games later became the Paralympic Games, which first took place in Rome, Italy in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then they have taken place every four years. 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.

Team Qatar made history at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games when it won two silver medals. Abdulrahman Abdulqader and Sara Masoud both claimed silver in the F34 and F33 para-athletics shot put events respectively. Sara also became Qatar’s first-ever female medallist.

Doha hosted the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, the largest para-sport event ever to be hosted in the Middle East.