The first Stoke Mandeville Games on the 29th July 1948, arranged as part of a programme of rehabilitation through sport, saw 16 injured servicemen and women taking part in an archery competition. Today this has really grown; as athletes compete in around 22 sports in the Summer Paralympic Games and 6 sports in the Winter Paralympics. Paralympians are now professional athletes and technological advances have seen the development of new equipment designs, such as racing wheelchairs and running prostheses; allowing for improved athletic performance across a wide range of sports. While many sports have been added to the Paralympic programme, some sports have been discontinued. One such sport is Dartchery; a combination of darts and archery, which featured in the Rome Paralympic Games in 1960 where three pairs of athletes took part and each was awarded a medal; but the sport was removed from the programme after 1980. Take a look at our information on the full range of Summer and Winter Paralympic Sports below. Who knows what sports, and technologies, might be included on these pages in the future; as Paralympic sports continue to develop and evolve.
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Alpine Skiing was part of the first Paralympic Winter Games, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 1976. Read more
Archery was one of the sports at the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960. Read more
Athletics is a traditional Olympic and Paralympic sport and has been on the Paralympic programme since the first Games in Rome 1960 Read more
Badminton will be included in the Paralympic Games for the first time ever in Tokyo 2020. Read more
Boccia is derived from the ancient Italian game ‘bocce’ and specifically developed for athletes with high levels of impairment. Read more
Para canoe appeared for the first time at Rio 2016. There are 6 events, 3 each for men and women, in 200m kayak sprint races. Read more
Cycling first featured in the 1984 Paralympic Games in New York with road events only for athletes with cerebral palsy. Read more
Events in dartchery, a cross between archery and traditional darts, were included in every Summer Paralympic programme from 1960 until 1980. Read more
Equestrian, in the form of dressage, was introduced as a Paralympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics Summer Games. Read more
5-a-side football first appeared at the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004. Read more
7-a-side football first featured at the Paralympic Games, New York 1984. Read more
Goalball was created in Austria in 1946 as a form of rehabilitation for visually impaired veterans and first appeared at the Paralympics in Toronto in 1976. Read more
Ice sledge hockey has been a Paralympic sport since the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Paralympics. Read more
Ice sledge speed racing was included in the Paralympic Winter Games programme from Örnsköldsvik in 1976 until Nagano in 1998. Read more
Judo first appeared at the Paralympic Games, Seoul 1988 for men and then Athens 2004 for women as well. Read more
Lawn bowls featured as a sport in paralympic games from 1968 to 1988 and finally in 1996. Read more
Nordic skiing featured at the first Paralympic Winter Games in Ornskoldsvik 1976. It consists of two disciplines, cross-country skiing and biathlon. Read more
Powerlifting for men was first introduced at the 1984 New York Paralympic Games and for women at Sydney 2000. Read more
Rowing is a relatively new sport to the Paralympic Games, being introduced in Beijing 2008. Read more
Sailing first appeared at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta 1996 with a demonstration class for Sonar only. Read more
Shooting has been an event at the Paralympic Games since Toronto 1976. Paralympic shooting mirrors the Olympic target shooting programme, with the addition of prone events in air rifle. Read more
Sitting volleyball first appeared at the Paralympic Games in Toronto, 1976, as a demonstration sport. Read more
Snooker was included in the programme of the Stoke Mandeville Games from 1951 onwards and in the Paralympic programme from the first Games in Rome in 1960 until Seoul in 1988. Read more
Para snowboarding was included for the first time in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games programme. Read more