Did you know?
BARCELONA 1992:
In the women's 100m sprint Merlene Ottey (JAM) finished only six-hundredths of a second behind the winner, Gail Devers (USA), and yet she ended up in only fifth place.
The Paralympic Movement
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement; it organises the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games; and also serves as the International Federation for 12 sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions.
The IPC is an international non-profit organisation formed and run by 162 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports federations (IOSDs).
The four IOSDs are:
- CP-ISRA: Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation Association
- IBSA: International Blind Sports Federation
- INAS-FID: International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability
- IWAS: International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation
Whereas other international sports organisations for athletes with a disability are either limited to one disability group or to one specific sport, the IPC - as an umbrella organisation - represents several sports and disabilities. The national sports organisations, which created the IPC, are convinced that the future of sport for people with a disability or disabled people lies in bringing together athletes with different abilities to hold joint competitions.
