Para athletics is the biggest sport within the Paralympic Movement in terms of the number of participating athletes and countries.

 

It was one of eight sports included in the first Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy, in 1960 and has remained on the programme ever since, consistently attracting the biggest crowds and TV audiences.

 

Today World Para Athletics, under the governance of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC_, acts as the international federation for the sport and is based in Bonn, Germany.

 

Open to male and female athletes in all eligible impairment groups, Para athletics offers a wide range of competition opportunities.  This includes the Paralympic Games which are held every four years, biennial World Championships and the World Para Athletics Grand Prix, held in different cities across the world every year since 2013.

 

Athletes compete according to their sport specific classification in each event.  Some compete in wheelchairs and some with prostheses, while vision impaired athletes are supported by a sighted guide.  To further increase the number of athletes with high-support needs competing in the sport, the discipline of frame-running was included in World Para Athletics events from the start of 2018. It will join the Paralympic Games programme for the first time at Los Angeles 2028.

 

Para athletics is practised internationally by athletes in more than 150 countries.

 

Today World Para Athletics, under the governance of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), acts as the international federation for the sport and is based in Bonn, Germany. Sports Association for the Physically Disabled of Hong Kong, China (Physical Impairment & Vision Impairment) and Hong Kong, China Sports Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability (Intellectual Impairment) are organisations authorised for elite development of Para Athletics in Hong Kong, China.

Source of information credit: International Paralympic Committee