Good afternoon everyone. The Paralympic Games begin in Rio today. The Summer Paralympic Games, or the Summer Paralympics, is an international sporting tournament held every four years, shortly after the Summer Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes with a physical disability come from all over the world to compete. Some are missing one or more limbs, some have trouble controlling their muscles, and others might have a visual impairment. But they all come to represent their country with pride, and they all do their best to win a Paralympic Medal, either gold, silver or bronze.<\/p>\n
Paralympic Games were founded by a Jewish doctor, dr Ludwig Guttmann, after the WWII, who wanted to give hope to British wounded soldiers, got them engaged into physical activities. In the first Summer Paralympic Games, held in Stoke Mandeville in 1948, 14 disabled men and 2 women fought in the archery contest Since then the tournament has grown enormously. Now more than 4,000 athletes from over 150 countries compete in 20 sports. The current list of summer paralympic sports includes archery, athletics, basketball, boccia, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Many involve the use of wheelchairs, such as basketball, boccia, fencing, rugby and tennis, while in others special equipment is used, such as the ball containing a bell that visually-impaired players of goalball listen to while they play.<\/p>\n
Two sports will also be added to the Paralympics Games 2016: canoeing and traithlon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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