SirLudwigGuttmann,whohadbeendriventoEnglandin1939fromNaziGermany,hadbeenaskedbytheBritishgovernmenttosetupaninjuriescenteratStokeMandevilleHospitalnearLondon.Hisideasabouttreatinginjuriesincludedsportforthedisabled.
Inthefirstgamesjusttwoteamsofinjuredsoldierstookpart.Thenextyear,1949,fiveteamstookpart.Fromthosebeginnings,thingshavedevelopedfast.TeamsnowcomefromabroadtoStokeMandevilleeveryyear.In1960thefirstOlympicsfortheDisabledwereheldinRome,inthesameplaceasthenormalOlympicGames.Now,everyfouryearstheOlympicGamesfortheDisabledareheld,ifpossible,inthesameplaceasthenormalOlympicGames,althoughtheyareorganizedseparately.InotheryearsGamesfortheDisabledarestillheldatStokeMandeville.Inthe1984wheelchairOlympicGames,1064wheelchairathletesfromabout40countriestookpart.Unfortunately,theywereheldatStokeMandevilleandnotinLosAngeles,alongwiththeotherOlympics.
TheGameshavebeenagreatsuccessinpromotinginternationalfriendshipandunderstanding,andinprovingthatbeingdisableddoesnotmeanyoucan'tenjoysport.Onesmallsourceofdisappointmentforthosewhoorganizeandtakepartinthegames,however,hasbeentheunwillingnessoftheInternationalOlympicCommitteetoincludedisabledeventsatOlympicGamesfortheable-bodied.Perhapsafewmoreyearsarestillneededtoconvincethosefortunateenoughnottobedisabledthattheirdisabledfellowathletesshouldnotbeexcluded.