The Summer Paralympic Games or the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event, where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, organized by the International Paralympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that the Olympic Games started in 1904.
The United States and The United Kingdom have hosted two Summer Paralympic Games each, more than any other nation. Other countries that have hosted the summer Olympics are Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain and West Germany. In the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Rio de Janeiro will host the first Summer Games in South America. No cities have hosted two Summer Paralympic Games.
Twelve countries — Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, United States — have been represented at all Summer Paralympic Games. Seven of those countries have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Paralympic Games: Australia, Austria, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States.
The United States have been the top-ranking nation for eight of the 13 Paralympic Summer Games: 1964, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. China have been the top-ranking nation for the three most recent Games, 2004, 2008 and 2012. Italy (1960), West Germany (1972) and Australia (2000) have been the top-ranking nation one time each.
Read more about Summer Paralympic Games: Qualification, History, Classification, List of Paralympic Sports, List of Summer Paralympic Games
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