The first Paralympics were held in 1960 in Rome. Before that, there had been the Stoke Mandeville Games. These go back to 1948 (the first Games were held on the same day as the start of the Olympics) and were originally devised mainly as a sporting event for veterans of World War II with severe injuries that resulted in amputation or wheelchair use. The games were held at Stoke Mandeville in England. From 1952 other nations began to join in, so the event became international; then in 1960 they were held after the Olympic Games as the Paralympics are today. The name didn't become official until 1984, though.

The first founder of the Stoke Mandeville Games was a German doctor living in the UK, Sir Ludwig Guttman. Having worked all his life with badly injured or paralysed patients, he believed strongly in the importance of sport and exercise to build up strength and help patients to manage their lives.