The 2008 Summer Olympic Games may be over, but there is still some exciting international competition to come in Beijing and Hong Kong — the Paralympic Games! The Paralympic Games are a modified version of the Olympics for athletes with disabilities. As a rider, teacher, and therapeutic riding volunteer, these are near and dear to my heart!

Just as there are Olympic equestrian events, there is also Paralympic Equestrian compeititon, dressage to be exact. Not familiar with the Paralympics? Here’s a quick run-down.

Paralympic History

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries in Stoke Mandeville, England. Four years later, competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born. Olympic style games for athletes with disabilities were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960 and were first referred to as the Paralympics. In Toronto in 1976, other disability groups were added and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions was born. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.

Today, the Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes from six different disability groups. They emphasize, however, the participants’ athletic achievements rather than their disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to 3806 athletes from 136 countries in Athens in 2004.

The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games. Since the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games and the Albertville 1992 Winter Paralympic Games they have also taken place at the same venues as the Olympics. In June 2001, an agreement was signed between the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee securing this practice for the future. From the 2012 bid process onwards, the host city chosen to host the Olympic Games will be obliged to also host the Paralympics.

The Paralympic Movement actualizes its motto, “Spirit in Motion” , where the athletes’ sporting ability, not their disability, is emphasized. Through sports, every person has the ability to develop their potentials and achieve self-determination and success. The movement has expanded vastly in the past years and brought a new horizon to elite sports.

Participant Classification

Traditionally there are athletes who belong to six different disability groups in the Paralympic Movement: amputee, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability and a group which includes all those that do not fit into the aforementioned groups (les autres).

Classes are determined by a variety of processes that may include a physical and technical assessment and observation in and out of competition. The classes are defined by each sport and form part of the sport rules.

Classification is an ongoing process. When an athlete starts competing, they are allocated a class that may be reviewed throughout the athlete’s career. Sports certify individuals to conduct the process of classification and these officials are known as classifiers.

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games

September 6-17

After a less than two-week break to recover from the Olympics, Beijing will also host the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 6-17. The equestrian competition will take place September 7-11. The para-dressage will be held in Hong Kong at the venue in Sha Tin where the Olympic show jumping and dressage were also held.

I’ll be providing coverage of the Paralympic equestrian competition just like I did for the Olympics. So come back to find out more about how Paralympic dressage works, who is competing, and other news and stories.

• How Paralympic Dressage Works
• International Paralympics Committee Website
• 2008 Paralympics Equestrian Website
• 2008 Beijing Paralympics Website