PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL • PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT POWERED BY The IPC’s mission is to develop Paralympic Sport around the world at all levels, and ensure the means necessary to support future growth of the Paralympic Movement. Behind this stated objective, constant hard work is being conducted on the ground – men and women through their love of sport and devotion to the Paralympic Movement use resources available to bring Paralympic Sport to life across the five continents. Without them, ParalympicS port would simply not exist. This commitment ultimately drives the continual evolution of National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and the growing events calendar. The popularity and development of Paralympic Sport now more than ever depends on the ability of our NPCs to develop and deliver quality training and competition opportunities for their athletes. For this reason, the IPC is providing managers and administrators the means which allow them to accomplish their work in the best manner possible. This Paralympic Administration Manual is a further demonstration of the IPC’s commitment in providing the Paralympic Movement with the resources needed to accomplish their goals. You will find it an extremely useful tool in developing Paralympic Sport in your region and country. This publication was made possible through funding from the German Ministry of the Interior, and adds to a wide range of programmes developed in partnership with the IPC Academy. It will contribute to raising the general quality of NPCs and Paralympic events, and will assist the growth of Paralympic Sport at all levels. On behalf of the IPC, I would like to thank all of the NPCs and their commitment to Paralympic Sport. I wish them the utmost success! Sir Philip Craven MBE IPC President Image credits: Lieven Coudenys (cover image), Getty Images (this page) Some of the contents of this document have been prepared using information contained in International Olympic Committee (IOC) publications, where applicable and with the permission of IOC. We thank the IOC, as the owner of copyright for this material, for their assistance and co-operation. PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL 1.3 © Copyright International Paralympic Committee 2010 MODULE I THE PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT 1.7 CHAPTER 1: HISTORY 1.9 CHAPTER 2: STRUCTURE 1.15 A. The International Paralympic Committee (The IPC) 1.16 B. Membership 1.19 C. National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) 1.21 D. Regional Organizations 1.22 E. International Organizations of Sport for the Disabled (IOSDs) 1.23 F. International Paralympic Sports Federations (IPSFs) 1.24 G. Athletes 1.26 H. Competitions 1.27 I. Your NPC and the Paralympic Movement 1.29 J. Questions 1.29 CHAPTER 3: THE PARALYMPIC GAMES 1.31 A. The Evolution of the Paralympic Games 1.32 B. The IPC and the IOC 1.33 C. The International Bid Process for Selecting Host Cities 1.33 D. The Organizing Committees (OCOGs) 1.35 E. Paralympic Sports Programme 1.36 CHAPTER 4: THE IPC PROGRAMMES AND INTERESTS 1.41 A. Women in Sport 1.42 B. Athletes with High Support Needs 1.46 C. Paralympic Games Impact 1.48 D. Development Support Initiatives 1.50 E. Sport for Athletes with a Disability and the Media 1.50 F. The IPC Academy 1.56 G. The IPC Documentation Centre 1.57 Image credit: Lieven Coudenys PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL 1.5 MODULE 1: THE PARALYM1PIC MOVEMENT PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL 1.7 CHAPTER 1: HISTORY Image credit: IWAS PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL | MODULE 1 1.9 Sport for athletes with a disability has existed for more than 100 In 1960, an International Working ISMGF: athletes with a visual impair- years. In the 18th and 19th centuries, new contributions proved Group on Sport for the Disabled ment, amputation and cerebral palsy. that sport activities were very important for the rehabilitation of was set up to study the challenges The organization pushed hard to facing persons with a disability who include athletes with a visual impair- persons with a disability. wanted to become involved in sport. ment or an amputation in the Toronto Following World War II, traditional methods of rehabilitation could Its aim was to establish an organiza- 1976 Paralympic Games, and persons tion that included all disability groups. with cerebral palsy in the Arnhem not meet the medical and psychological needs of large numbers It resulted in the creation, in 1964, 1980 Paralympic Games. of soldiers and civilians with a disability. At the request of the of an international sport federation British government, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann founded the National called ISOD: International Sports The aim of ISOD was to become an Spinal Injuries Centre at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Great Organization for the Disabled. umbrella organization for all disabilities and to act as a co-ordinating com- Britain in 1944. Guttmann introduced sport as a form of recreation ISOD offered opportunities for those mittee. Later, other disability groups and as an aid for remedial treatment and rehabilitation. athletes who could not belong to the established their own international On 28 July 1948 – the day of the and “Olympic” to illustrate how the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic two movements exist side by side. Games in London – the Stoke “Paralympics” has been the official Mandeville Games were founded, and term of the Games since 1988. the first competition for athletes with a spinal cord injury took place on the Over time, the organization and hospital grounds in Stoke Mandeville. structure of the Paralympics became Two British teams with 14 former more professional, and resulted in servicemen and two former service- the continuous improvement of the women competed in Archery. The classification system; an increase Stoke Mandeville Games were held in standards for coaching, training, from then on annually. In 1952, Dutch refereeing and umpiring; continual ex-servicemen joined the move- amendments of the Handbook of ment and the International Stoke Rules for each sport; and a growing Mandeville Games were established. number of athletes and countries These, too, took place every year in participating in the Games. Stoke Mandeville. The organizational structure also under- In 1960, the International Stoke went significant changes. Until 1952, Mandeville Games were staged for the Stoke Mandeville Games were the first time in the same country organized by Guttmann and hospital and city as the Olympic Games, i.e., staff, with a group of doctors, trainers, in Rome. They went down in history physiotherapists and administrators as the “First Paralympic Games”. deciding on rules, classifications, etc. The first Paralympic Winter Games However, the International Stoke took place in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Mandeville Games Committee was in 1976. founded in 1961 and took over respon- The word “Paralympic” was origi- sibility for organizing the Games until nally a pun combining “paraplegic” 1972, the year the Constitution was and “Olympic”; however, with the amended to include the International inclusion of other disability groups Stoke Mandeville Games Federation and the close association of the (ISMGF). In the 1990s, the ISMGF Paralympic Movement with the Olympic became the International Stoke Movement, it now refers to “parallel” Mandeville Wheelchair Sports (from the Greek preposition “para”) Federation (ISMWSF). Image credit: Lieven Coudenys 1.10 PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL | MODULE 1 PARALYMPIC ADMINISTRATION MANUAL | MODULE 1 1.11 sports organizations that arranged The Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer various competitions. in 1994 were the first Paralympic Games under the management of Today, four of the five International the IPC, with its headquarters being Organizations of Sport for the Disabled based in Bonn, Germany, since 1999. (IOSDs) listed below are members of Today, we look back on a history the IPC: of the organization, which is rapidly • CPISRA: Cerebral Palsy developing and presently numbers International Sport and around 165 member nations. The Recreation Association, Movement’s growth is best exempli- fied through the phenomenal rise of • IBSA: International Blind Sports the Paralympic Games. More coun- Federation, tries competed at the Beijing 2008 • INAS-FID: International Sports Paralympics (3951 athletes, 146 Federation for Persons with an countries) than in the Munich 1972 Intellectual Disability, Olympic Games. In Beijing, the degree of media coverage was unprecedent- • IWAS: International Wheelchair ed. With interest in and acceptance and Amputee Sports Federation for sport for persons with a disabil- (amalgamation of ISOD and ity growing, the expansion of the ISMWSF in 2004), Paralympics is most likely to continue • CISS: Comité International des in the future. Sports des Sourds (member of The IPC is currently composed of the IPC from 1986-1995). a General Assembly, a Governing Board, a Management Team in Bonn The international organizations recog- and various Standing Committees nized a need to co-ordinate both the and Councils. From 1989 (when the Paralympic Games and other interna- IPC was founded) to 2001, Dr. Robert tional and regional sport competitions. D. Steadward held the office of IPC Therefore, the ISOD, ISMGF, CPISRA President. In December 2001, after and IBSA created the “International the maximum of three terms in office, Co-ordinating Committee (ICC) of he was succeeded by the former World Sports Organizations for the Paralympian and President of the Disabled” in 1982 to govern the International Wheelchair Basketball Paralympic Games and to represent Federation, Sir Philip Craven, MBE. the participating organizations in dia- In 2005, the Executive Committee logues with the International Olympic was replaced by a Governing Board Committee (IOC) and other global whose members were directly elect- organizations. ed by the IPC General Assembly. However, the member nations For more information and details demanded more national and regional on the history of the IPC and the representation in the organization. Paralympic Games, please visit the This finally led to the foundation in official website at www.paralympic. 1989 of a new, democratically orga- org/IPC/.