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The Evolution of the Paralympic Games Brittain, I.S The evolution of the Paralympic Games Brittain, I.S. Published version deposited in CURVE March 2012 Original citation & hyperlink: Brittain, I.S. (2008) 'The evolution of the Paralympic Games ' In Richard Cashman and Simon Darcy(Eds). Benchmark Games: The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games (pp: 19-34). Petersham, New South Wales: Walla Walla Press. http://www.wallawallapress.com/benchmark_paralympics.php ISSN: 9781876718053 Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. CURVE is the Institutional Repository for Coventry University http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open Chapter2 THe EVoLUTToNoF THEPARALyMpTc Gnues Ian BritLain The wheelchair Gamesheld in Rome in 1960 are now acceptedas the first Paralympic Games,although at the time they were known as the Ninth Internati.onalStoke Mander,'illeGames. However. it took some decadesfor the Paralpnpic Gamesto establishboth their name and their cont.emporaryidentity. One of the intriguing issuesabout the ParalympicGames is how this small niche festival,which involved a minority of athleteson the marglns, reinvented itself by establishinga connec[ion to the premier multi-sport 'Paralympic'. festivalthus adopting the name This becamethe recognised term denoting the disability sppn equivalentof the Olympic Games.Dr Lugwrg Guttmann,the founder o[ the Paral].'rnpicmovement, championed the Olympic connectionover three decades.His persuasiveadvocacy was partially acceptedinitially, sometimesresisted and even challenged,but eventuallyprevailed so that the Paralinnpic-Olyrnpicrelationship changed from a more informal to a more formal one. This chapter suggests that the Olympic acceptance of the Paralympic relationship occurred gradually after some Olympic individuals in high placesprovided an initial acceptanceof Paralympic sport. However, it took some time for the IOC to recogniseand deal with the implications of the Olympic branding of the Paral)."r'npicsand to estabiisha preferredrelationship. This chapterwill alsoshow that the internationalmedia playeda role in the promotion of the'Paralympic'name,which they had beenpromoting from 1960. Guttmann and the IOC would have preferredanother name (seebelow). Why did the word Paralln-npicsappeal to joumalists?Probably it wasshorteq sharper and more newsworthythan such terrnsas Paraplegic Ol;'rnpics. The meaning of the word Paralyrnpicchanged over several decades.Initially it was a combination of paraplegrcand Olympic but as more disability groupsjoined the movementi.t was necessary for the name to take on a new meaning. 20 Benchmark Games Chapter2:The evolutionof the ParalympicGames 21 Birthof a movement(194F1959) hospital,the paraplegrchad accessto societythrough a loca1archery club. , 'these Guttmannstated that experimentswere the begrnningof a systematic Ludwig Gu[tmann was a German-Jewishneurologrst who fled Nazi deveiopmentof competitivespoft for the paralysedas an essentialpart of Germanywith his famrly in 1939, eventua\ sertling in England where their medicalrehabilitation and socialre-integration in the communi.tyof a he undertook work at Oxford UniversityzHe was appointedby the British coun[ry like GreatBritain where spoft in one form or anotherplays such an Governmentin September1943 as director of the National SpinalInjuries essentialpan in the life of so many people'.6 Unit at the Ministry of PensionsHospital, StokeMandeville, Aylesbury ro take care of the numerous soldiers and civilians sufferingfrom war-time spinal rnjuries. Guttmann brought a new philosophy to rhe ffeatment of A modestbeginning suchpariens and many of hls colleagueswere surprised by his enthusiasm 'They The Paraiympic Games began modestly as an archery demonstration for what they perceived as an utterly daunrrng task. could not 'how betweentwo teamsof paraplegicsfrom the Ministry of PensionsHospital at understand',commented Guttmann, I could leave Oxford University StokeMandeville and the Star and GarterHome for Injured War Veterans to be engulfedin the hopelessand depressingtask of looking aftertraumaric at Richmond in Surrey However, the date chosenfor the event, 29 July spinalparaplegics'.I 1948, was auspiciousbecause it coincidedwith the operungceremony of Before1939, there is little evidenceof organisedefforrs to developsport the London Olympic Games,heid just 35 miles ^w^y aLWembleiz Given forthe disabled,especiallythosewrthspinalinjunes. Theywere consideredto Guttmann'smany later attempts to capitaliseon the Olyrnpic name, it is havelittle hope of sun'rval.Foliowing the war, however,medical authonries hard to escapethe conclusionthat the choice of this date was a conscious were prompted to re-evaluatetraditional methods of rehabilitation, which effort to gain as much publicity as possiblefor disabledsport at this time. were not satisfactorilyaddressing the medical and psychological needsof The eventattracted some notice in the local papercand evena short piece the large number of soldiersdisabled in combat.2According to McCann, 'recognised inThe Times.Guttmann la[er statedthat this eventdemonstrated that sport Guttmann the physioiogrcaland psychologrcal valuesof sport was not the exclusivepresewe of the able-bodied.7 in the rehabilitationof paraplegichospital inpatients'.3 His aim 'Grand was to both Guttmann's Festival of Paraplegic Sport', as the second rnstil a senseof self-worthin patientsand to changethe attitudesof society incamationof the Gameswere described, was held on27 JuIy 1949.Because towards the spina\ rn;ured. He believedthat his patientscould become of the work of Guttmann and his staffand the enthusiasmof former Stoke useful members of society and complere rastr<sthat many able-bodied Mandevillepatients relocated to olher spinal units around the country the personswould find difficult.a number of teamsentered rose to seven.Thirty-seven individuals took part in Guttmann's patients started a modest exerciseprogram involving theseGames and with the exceptionof the archersfrom the PolishHospital at darts, snooker,punch-ball and skittles. Wheelchair polo was larer added Penleyevery competitor had, at sometime, beena patientof Dr Guttmann.B but becauseit was consideredtoo rough ir was replaced 'Net-ball', by"wheelchair a hybrid of netbail and basketbailplayed in wheelchairsand netball, later known as wheelchairbasketbail. Archery was next the sporl using netballposts for goals,was then added to the program.At the end of added to the Stoke Mandevilleprogram and becamean imponant factor 'of the day Guttmann gavea speechin which he made the now famous claim in rehabilitation. Guttmann believed that archery was immense in value that the StokeMandeviile Games would one day becomerecognised as the strengthening,in a very natural way just thosemuscles of the upper limbs, paraplegic'sequivalent of the Olympic Games,leading to a headline in a shoulders and trunk, on which the paraplegrc'swell-balanced, upright local paper:"'Ol1'mpic Games" of DisabledMen is Born at Stoke'.e position depends'.5Archery was also one of the few sportsthat paraplegrcs Competitor numbers increasedat the next three Games as more could mmpete on equal [erms with their able-bodied counrerparrs, spinalunits enteredteams. Guttmann, however, had granderplans, aiming enabling teams from Stoke Mandeville ro visir a number of able-bodied to make the Gamesintemational. The first step towards the reaiisationof archeryclubs in later years.This helped break down the bamers between Guttmann'sdream occurred in 1952,when a teamof four paraplegicsfrom the community and the patientsand alsomeant that once dischargedfrom the MilitaryRehabilitationCentre, Aardenburg, in the Netherlands,attended 22 Benchmark Games ChapterZ:The ev_olutionof the ParalympicGames 23 the Games.In his openingspeech Gu*mann drew artentionto the Helsinki containedarticles and adr,rceto paraplegicsand often gavespace to reports oiympic Games,which were being held at ihe sametime and added rhat on the spors activitiesat the hospital. Becausepractical information of he hoped that the parapregrcGames, as he cailed them, would becomeq,s assishnceto paraplegicswas in short supply, copies of this journal were internationaland aswidely known asthe Ol).,mpicGames.r0 often sent abroad,thereby spreadingnews of the Gamesand Guttmann's over the nextfouryears the internationarprtfire of thestoke Mandevilre rehabilitationmethods. The joumal continuedto be publisheduntll 1983. Gamesrose dramaticalry;by 1956 athrete, f.o- 18 nations attendedthe Guttmannhimself, thirdly, was a major playerin promoting the Games. Gamesand a totalof 2r differentnarions had competedsince 1952.r some He would often travel abroad attendrngconferences, giving lectures and of the przes were presentedat the Games porritt, by sir Arthur who wasa evenproviding evidencein court cases.He would invariably avail himself British loc member and a s_urgeonlike porritt Guttmann. statedthat,The of every opponunity to promote the Gamesand the value of spoil as a spirit of rheselStoke Mander,rlle] Games goes beyond the olympic Games rehabilitativetool. spirit. You competenot only wrth skill and endurancebut with courageand Fourthly,Guttmann was very polltically
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