Abstract

In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird über die Entwicklung des Behindertensports berichtet. Seit den 1960er Jahren ist ein deutlicher Anstieg an Freizeitsportaktivitäten bei Menschen mit unterschiedlichen Behinderungen zu erkennen, dabei erfährt auch der Hochleistungssport eine dynamische Entwicklung, begleitet von zunehmendem Interesse der Medien und der Öffentlichkeit. Im Folgenden wird im einzelnen über die Paralympics, die Special Olympics und die Deaflympics berichtet. cba

Abstract des Autors

In 1948, a sports festival for British war disabled was organised in London by Sir Ludwig Guttmann. Four years later, foreign athletes were also invited to participate in this event, thus, the foundation stone for the Paralympics was laid. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, these games took place for the first time in the Olympic style and were thus the first official Paralympics. Since 1988, the Paralympics have always been held in the Olympic Games host city, in recent years they have blossomed into a truly great event: At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, almost 4.000 athletes from 136 nations participated. The Special Olympics, the global games for mentally handicapped participants, were founded in 1968 in the USA by the Kennedy family. Unlike in the Paralympics, here the athletes‘ personal best performances and not absolute records are the yardsticks of success. However, the Deaflympics have the longest tradition in sport for the disabled, i.e. the global games for deaf athletes, which have been held since 1924. Verf.-Referat