Sir Ludwig Guttman- the ‘father of the Paralympics’ was one of the leading pre-war neurologists in Germany before the Nazis forced the jews out.

During the war, Guttman moved to England to treat paralysed servicemen, introducing rehab and physiotherapy as a treatment.

In 1948, Guttman organised an archery contest for World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries eventually leading up to the Paralympic movement

Following it's success, these games became an annual event called the ‘Stoke Mandeville Games' with a hybrid of wheelchair polo and hockey as the main sport.

The Stoke Mandeville Games later became the Paralympic Games which were first held in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then they have taken place every four years.

India has a won a total of 12 medals at the Paralympics with Murlikant Petkar winning the first ever Paralympic gold medal in 1972

With less than 100 days for Tokyo Paralympics, we are more excited than ever to see our inspiring para-athletes to take up the global stage!