137-668: The International Paralympic Committee ( IPC ; German : Internationales Paralympisches Komitee ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nine sports. Founded on 22 September 1989 in Düsseldorf , West Germany , its mission is to "enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite
274-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
411-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
548-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
685-662: A "heritage flame" lit at Stoke Mandeville, although it was combined with flames lit in the host country for the formal start of the torch relay. Beginning in 2024 , future Paralympic torch relays will officially begin in Stoke Mandeville, as an equivalent to the Olympic flame being created in Olympia . There have been several milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, coincident with
822-593: A competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games . The Summer Games of 1988 held in Seoul was the first time the term Paralympic came into official use. "Spirit in Motion" is the current motto for the Paralympic movement. The current Paralympic flag is used since 2020 and contains three colours, red, blue, and green, which are the colours most widely represented in the flags of nations. The colours are each in
959-617: A democratically guided organization emerged, as demanded by the nations participating in the Paralympic Movement. They desired a democratic structure, to improve national and regional representation, which led to the foundation of the IPC as it is known today. The 1994 Winter Paralympics , in Norway, were the first to be organized by the IPC. The IPC functions as an umbrella organization, representing several sports and disabilities, in contrast to other international sports organizations for athletes with
1096-561: A disability, which are predominantly limited to a single sport or disability (as well as the International Olympic Committee , which relies on separate member sanctioning bodies representing each Olympic sport). A fifteen-member Governing Board oversees the IPC between meetings of the General Assembly. Robert D. Steadward became the first President in 1989. Since 2017, Andrew Parsons is President of
1233-727: A functional classification system which differs from sport to sport. The IPC has established ten disability categories, including physical, visual, and intellectual impairment. Athletes with one of these disabilities can compete in the Paralympics, though not every sport can allow for every disability category. These categories apply to both Summer and Winter Paralympics. Physical Impairment – There are eight different types of physical impairment: Visual impairment – Athletes with visual impairment ranging from partial vision, sufficient to be judged legally blind , to total blindness . This includes impairment of one or more component of
1370-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
1507-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
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#17327913171041644-576: A one-hour highlight program after the Games ended. For the Winter Olympics the BBC aired 160 hours of coverage. The response from the BBC was that budget constraints and the "time zone factor" necessitated a limited broadcast schedule. The reduction in coverage was done in spite of increased ratings for the 2008 Summer Paralympics , which was watched by 23% of the population of Great Britain. In Norway,
1781-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
1918-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
2055-609: A right-arm amputee and could shoot left-handed. Another athlete with a disability who appeared in the Olympics prior to the Paralympic Games was Lis Hartel , a Danish equestrian athlete who had contracted polio in 1943 and won a silver medal in the dressage event in the 1952 Summer Olympics . The first organized athletic event for athletes with disabilities that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on
2192-489: A spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play....Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement. While the charter is silent on discrimination specifically related to disability; given the language in the charter regarding discrimination it is reasonable to infer that discrimination on
2329-468: A visual impairment are such a close and essential part of the competition that the athlete with visual impairment and the guide are considered a team, and both athletes are medal candidates. Starting at the 1992 Summer Paralympics, recent games have also been supported by contributions from major sponsors. Unlike the Olympics, where the IOC mandates that arenas be clean of sponsor logos, the Paralympics do allow
2466-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and
2603-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
2740-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
2877-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
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#17327913171043014-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
3151-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
3288-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
3425-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
3562-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
3699-602: Is located in Bonn, Germany . On the basis of being able to organize the Paralympic Games more efficiently and to give the Paralympic movement one voice, the four international organizations of sports for the disabled founded the International Co-ordination Committee of World Sports Organizations for the Disabled (ICC) in 1982. In the upcoming years, other organizations joined and the need for
3836-580: Is one of the largest international sporting events: the 2020 Summer Paralympics featuring 4,520 athletes from 163 National Paralympic Committees . Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with and in a similar way to the Olympic Games. The IOC -recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities (although since 1992, people with intellectual disabilities also participate in
3973-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
4110-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
4247-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
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4384-539: Is responsible for organizing the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. It also serves as the International Federation for nine sports ( Paralympic athletics , Paralympic swimming , Paralympic archery , Paralympic powerlifting , Para-alpine skiing , Paralympic biathlon , Paralympic cross-country skiing , ice sledge hockey and Wheelchair DanceSport ). This requires the IPC to supervise and coordinate
4521-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
4658-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
4795-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
4932-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
5069-520: The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 2008, Oscar Pistorius , a South African sprinter, attempted to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Pistorius had both his legs amputated below the knee and races with two carbon fibre blades manufactured by Össur . He holds the Paralympic world record in the 400 meter event. Pistorius missed qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400 meter race, by 0.70 seconds. He qualified for
5206-407: The 2008 Summer Paralympics where he won gold medals in the 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints. In 2011, Pistorius qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and competed in two events: he made the semi-final in the 400 metres race; and his team came 8th in the final of the 4 × 400 metres relay race. Even though all athletes are given equal opportunities to participate in these events, such as
5343-420: The 2024 Summer Paralympics covering 75% of the world over a year in advance (in comparison to 2020 , where many deals were made "last minute"), and that it had been pushing for broader coverage and increased rights fees since broadcasters were starting to "[realize] that [the Paralympics are] actually a great sporting event", and not treat them as a low-effort obligation bundled with their Olympics rights. Unlike
5480-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
5617-672: The British Paralympic Association and UK Sport to assist in spinning off World Para Athletics and World Para Swimming as independent federations that would be based in Manchester . Para dance sport was transferred to World Abilitysport (formerly IWAS) in 2024. Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Athletics Championships , World Para Athletics European Championships and other competitions. Supervises and co-ordinates
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5754-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
5891-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
6028-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
6165-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
6302-586: The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) broadcast 30 hours of the 2010 Winter Games live. NRK-sport were critical of parts of the TV production from Vancouver, and notified the EBU of issues such as the biathlon coverage excluding the shooting, and cross-country skiing with skiers in the distance, making it hard to follow the progress of the competition. NRK were far more pleased with
6439-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
6576-520: The S14 intellectual impairment category (provided they score low in IQ tests), they are often outmatched by the superior physicality of their opponents. At present there is no designated Paralympic category for swimmers with Down syndrome, meaning they have to compete as intellectually disadvantaged athletes. This disregards their physical disabilities. A number of advocacy groups globally have been lobbying for
6713-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
6850-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
6987-513: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
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#17327913171047124-501: The Winter Olympics . This led the media to highlight the contrast between the achievements of the country's Olympic and Paralympic delegations, despite the greater attention and funding awarded to the Olympic athletes. The Russian Federation organizers of the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games have, since 2007, made efforts to make the host city Sochi more accessible. In 2012, as part of its prohibition on unauthorised advertising,
7261-692: The World Para Dance Sport Championships and other competitions. The rebranding saw the sport renamed from "wheelchair dance sport" to "Para dance sport" due to the IPC's desire to expand the sport beyond wheelchair users. Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Ice Hockey Championships and other competitions. With the November 2016 rebranding, the official name of the sport was changed from "sledge hockey" to "Para ice hockey". This change
7398-401: The World Para Swimming Championships and other competitions. The Paralympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship programme includes the following commercial sponsors of the Paralympic Games. 50°43′10″N 7°06′58″E / 50.71944°N 7.11611°E / 50.71944; 7.11611 German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
7535-481: The national anthem of the gold medalist is played. Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present the medals and act as flag-bearers. For every Paralympic event, the respective medal ceremony is held, at most, one day after the event's final. In June 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement that would ensure that
7672-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
7809-405: The 1948 Olympics. Guttman's aim was to create an elite sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were held at the same location each year, and in 1952 Dutch and Israeli veterans took part alongside the British, making it the first international competition of its own kind. In 1960, the 9th annual games took place outside of the UK for
7946-459: The 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the same year as the Olympic Games. The Games were initially open only to athletes in wheelchairs; at the 1976 Summer Games , athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries. The 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul
8083-420: The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea , have been held shortly after the corresponding Olympic Games . All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The Paralympics began as a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 . The 1960 Games in Rome drew 400 athletes with disabilities from 23 countries, as proposed by doctor Antonio Maglio. Currently it
8220-434: The 400 meter race, there has been growing criticism that the games may not be fair to all athletes. For example, athletes running a race with a left prosthetic leg may be disadvantaged compared to those with a right side prosthesis because the races are run in an anticlockwise direction, giving some athletes an advantage. Some athletes without a disability also compete at the Paralympics. The sighted guides for athletes with
8357-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
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#17327913171048494-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
8631-433: The Games as had been done at the 1992 and 1996 Games. Despite these advances, consistent media attention has been a challenge, which was evidenced in the coverage in Great Britain of the 2010 Winter Paralympics . The BBC was criticized for its minimal coverage of the 2010 Winter Paralympics as compared to its coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics . The BBC announced it would stream some content on its website and show
8768-422: The Games had increased their willingness to hire people with disabilities. Chief Executive Officer for the International Paralympic Committee Xavier Gonzalez said about the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing , China, that: In China, the (Paralympic) Games were really a transformation tool for changing attitudes across the board in China towards people with disability, to building accessibility facilities in
8905-416: The Games internationally. Deals were reached with Asian, South American, and European broadcast companies to distribute coverage to as many markets as possible. The Games were also webcast for the first time. Because of these efforts, the Sydney Paralympics reached a global audience estimated at 300 million people. Also significant was the fact that the organizers did not have to pay networks to televise
9042-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
9179-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
9316-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
9453-422: The IPC maintains an active Instagram among other social media channels to share updates. The Paralympics and other sport events related to the Paralympic movement are broadcast on ParalympicSportTV, an internet TV channel for Paralympic sports created by the IPC. In June 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement that would ensure that
9590-479: The IPC's governance "created perceptions of conflict of interest, disparity in the application of resources, a sense of unfairness between the IPC Sports and those which are not and confusion about the IPC’s role, all of which is impacting its reputation." In July 2022, the IPC transferred governance of skiing, snowboard, and biathlon to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and International Biathlon Union (IBU) respectively, and in June 2023 appointed
9727-438: The IPC, and there are three disability specific organizations, while the IPC has served as the international federation for multiple sports. As of 2021, the IPC governed Paralympic alpine skiing, athletics, biathlon, cross country skiing, sledge hockey (Para ice hockey), powerlifting, shooting (shooting Para sport), snowboarding, swimming, and wheelchair dancesport (Para dance sport). On 30 November 2016, to distinguish them from
9864-782: The IPC. The International Paralympic Committee has had three presidents to date. Its founding president, who presided over it from 1989 to 2001, was the Canadian Robert Steadward , who had previously founded the Canadian Sports Fund for the Physically Disabled. He was succeeded in 2001 by Philip Craven , a British Paralympian and former President of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation , who served as president until 2017. Craven
10001-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
10138-865: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
10275-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
10412-401: The Olympic Games prior to the advent of the Paralympics. The first athlete to do so was German-American gymnast George Eyser in 1904 , who had one artificial leg. Olivér Halassy , a Hungarian amputee water polo player, competed in three successive Olympic Games, beginning in 1928 . Hungarian Károly Takács competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was
10549-437: The Olympics, the IPC holds the digital rights to the Paralympics in some markets, allowing it to promote live coverage and other highlights via its own social media platforms to engage online audiences. Television broadcasts of Paralympic Games began in 1976, but this early coverage was confined to tape-delayed broadcasts to one nation or region. At the 1992 Summer Paralympics, there were 45 hours of live coverage but it
10686-723: The Paralympic Games), and the Deaflympics held since 1924 are exclusive for deaf athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities of Para athletes , there are several categories in which they compete. The allowable disabilities are divided into ten eligible impairment types: impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature , hypertonia , ataxia , athetosis , vision impairment and intellectual impairment . These categories are further divided into various subcategories. Athletes with disabilities did compete at
10823-555: The Paralympic Games, the IPC adopted the new blanket branding World Para Sports , with the subcommittees rebranded accordingly. It also renamed three sports to align with this new name; Paralympic shooting was renamed to "shooting Para sport" (to reduce confusion with parachuting ), wheelchair dancesport became "Para dance sport" (as the committee expressed interest in governing dancesport for other classifications besides wheelchair), and sledge hockey became "Para ice hockey" (for both branding and linguistic reasons). Sports contested in
10960-511: The Paralympic Summer and Winter Games are recognized on the world stage. Unlike the Olympic Games, English is the official language of the Paralympic movement. The other languages used at each Paralympic Games are the official languages of the host country or host region. Every proclamation (such as the announcement of each country during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony) is spoken in these two or more languages. Although
11097-489: The Paralympic movement began requiring any tattoo of the Olympic rings to be covered during competition, on the basis that the Olympics is technically a third-party organisation. In 2024 the prohibition was ended after protests from athletes. Paralympic athletes have sought equal opportunities to compete at the Olympic Games. The precedent was set by Neroli Fairhall , a Paralympic archer from New Zealand , who competed at
11234-481: The Summer Olympics. The winter games happen two years after the summer games. The International Paralympic Committee is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. It comprises 178 National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and four disability-specific international sports federations. The president of the IPC is Andrew Parsons . The IPC's international headquarters are in Bonn , Germany. The IPC
11371-769: The Summer Paralympics began using the new branding immediately. For winter sports, whose competitive seasons had already started by the announcement, only the world championships were immediately changed to reflect the new branding; the full switchover did not occur until the 2017–18 season. In December 2021 during its virtual General Assembly, the IPC voted on a mandate to transfer its international governance of Paralympic sports to independent bodies by 2026, either by transferring them to an existing governing body, or spinning off subcommittees as independent federations. A governance review published in October 2019 found that
11508-539: The Superhumans " receiving an overall Grand Prix award. In January 2020, the Paralympics were classified as a Category A "listed" event by the British telecom regulator Ofcom as with the Olympics, mandating that they be broadcast in whole or in part by a free-to-air network, as with the Olympics. Channel 4 reported that its coverage of the 2024 Summer Paralympics was seen by a total audience of 20 million, with
11645-539: The World Championships and other competitions for each of the nine sports it regulates. IPC membership also includes National Paralympic Committees and international sporting federations. International Federations are independent sport federations recognized by the IPC as the sole representative of a Paralympic Sport. International Federations responsibilities include technical jurisdiction and guidance over
11782-417: The athletes who enter together, without any national distinction. The Paralympic flag is taken down. Since the 1988 Winter Paralympics , with some exceptions, the national flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Paralympic Games is hoisted while the corresponding national anthem is played. The games are officially closed, and the Paralympic flame is extinguished. After these compulsory elements,
11919-742: The basis of disability would be against the ideals of the Olympic Charter and the IOC. This is also consistent with the Paralympic Charter, which forbids discrimination on the basis of political, religious, economic, disability, gender, sexual orientation or racial reasons. Chairman of the London organising committee , Sebastian Coe , said about the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, that, "We want to change public attitudes towards disability, celebrate
12056-549: The board. The IPC has an honorary board of distinguished individuals who support the IPC's goals and use their profile to raise funds and awareness for its work. Current honorary board members are: Chronology of milestones in the development of the International Paralympic Committee and the Summer and Winter Paralympics . The IPC publishes The Paralympian three times a year. In addition,
12193-625: The channel achieving its highest viewer share since the 2012 Paralympics. A 2010 study by the University of British Columbia (UBC) on the Olympic Games Impact (OGI), showed that of roughly 1,600 Canadian respondents, 41 to 50 percent believed the 2010 Paralympic and Olympic Games in Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, triggered additional accessibility of buildings, sidewalks and public spaces. 23 percent of employers said
12330-877: The city, to changing laws to allow people with a disability to be part of society. Within the framework of the International Olympic Committee's commitment to equal access to athletics, concerns have been raised regarding inclusion of athletes with Down syndrome in the Paralympic Games. While the Paralympic movement strives for inclusivity, the absence of a specific classification for athletes with Down syndrome within Paralympic swimming events raises questions about equal and fair competition for Down syndrome athletes. International Paralympic Committee Para-swimming classification codes are based upon single impairment only, whereas Down syndrome individuals have both physical and intellectual impairments. Although swimmers with Down syndrome are able to compete in
12467-669: The close working relationship. The Paralympic Games were designed to emphasize the participants' athletic achievements and not their disability. Recent games have emphasized that these games are about ability and not disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its early days – for example, the number of athletes participating in the Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes in Rome in 1960 to 4,342 athletes from 159 countries in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 . Both
12604-588: The competition and training venues of their respective sports during the Paralympic Games. The IPC also recognizes media partners, certifies officials, judges, and is responsible for enforcing the bylaws of the Paralympic Charter . Since its creation in 1989, IPC has a cooperative relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Delegates of the IPC are also members of the IOC and participate on IOC committees and commissions. The two governing bodies remain distinct, with separate Games, despite
12741-453: The day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. The German-Jewish doctor Ludwig Guttmann , of Stoke Mandeville Hospital , who had fled Nazi Germany with the help of the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) in 1939, hosted a sports competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries. The first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games , and were intended to coincide with
12878-535: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
13015-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
13152-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
13289-652: The excellence of Paralympic sport and to enshrine from the very outset that the two Games are an integrated whole." The 2014 Winter Paralympic Games is the first such Paralympics hosted by Russia. Russia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during that period. Notably at 2010 Vancouver, their Paralympic team topped the medal table at the Winter Paralympics , while their Olympic team performed well below expectations at
13426-481: The first time in Rome , to coincide with the 1960 Summer Olympics which were also being held in Rome. These were to be later designated the 1st Paralympic Games . These early competitions have been described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games, and Stoke Mandeville holds a similar place in the history of the Paralympic movement as Greece holds in the Olympic Games; since 2012, the Paralympic flame has incorporated
13563-550: The first time. In the UK, Channel 4 assumed the television rights beginning in the 2012 Summer Paralympics , promising major increases in coverage on television and digital platforms, efforts to heighten the Games' profile, and commitments to incorporate people with disabilities among its staff and presenters. Its coverage of the Paralympics have been promoted through major marketing campaigns; several of its advertisements have won Cannes Lions awards, with its trailer for 2016 " We're
13700-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
13837-466: The host country flag, and the oaths by athletes, coaches, and judges are taken. Finally, the Paralympic flame is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final torch carrier—often a Paralympic athlete from the host nation—who lights the Paralympic flame in the stadium's cauldron. The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games takes place after all sporting events have concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter, followed by
13974-454: The idea that Paralympians have a spirit of competition and that the IPC as an organization realizes its potential and is moving forward to achieve it. The vision of the IPC is, "To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world." The Paralympic anthem is "Hymne de l'Avenir" or "Anthem of the Future". It was composed by Thierry Darnis and adopted as
14111-784: The inclusion of a distinct classification category for Down syndrome swimmers within the IPC Classification Codes framework. Initiatives aimed at promoting greater inclusivity within the Paralympic movement have emerged, including advocacy and awareness-raising efforts targeting discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for athletes with Down syndrome. Despite ongoing advocacy, the issue remains unresolved, and swimmers with Down syndrome continue to face challenges in accessing appropriate classification pathways. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has established ten disability categories. Athletes are divided within each category according to their level of impairment, in
14248-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
14385-570: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics , also known as the Games of the Paralympiad , is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities . There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games , which since
14522-448: The logos of official sponsors to be displayed inside arenas and on uniforms. While the Olympic Games have experienced tremendous growth in global media coverage since the 1984 Summer Paralympics , the Paralympics had been slower to develop a consistent mainstream media presence. In June 2023, IPC executives noted that interest in the Paralympics had been improving among broadcasters, citing that that it had already reached rights deals for
14659-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
14796-451: The name was originally coined as a portmanteau combining paraplegic (due to its origins as games for people with spinal injuries) and Olympic , the inclusion of other disability groups meant that this was no longer considered very accurate. The present formal explanation for the name is that it derives from the Greek preposition παρά , pará ('beside' or 'alongside') and thus refers to
14933-412: The next host nation briefly introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and theater representative of its culture. A medals ceremony is held after the conclusion of each Paralympic event. The winner, second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum when they are awarded their respective medal by an IPC member. The national flags of the medalists are then raised while
15070-649: The ninth Stoke Mandeville Games but no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960 . They were the brainchild of Antonio Maglio, a friend and follower of Guttmann and were financed almost entirely by Maglio's employer, the Workers National Accident Insurance Fund of Italy, then led by Renato Morelli , who was also Chairman of the International Social Security Association. Four hundred athletes from 23 countries competed at
15207-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
15344-531: The official anthem in March 1996. As mandated by the Paralympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. Most of these rituals were established are the same that 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp and were shared with the Olympic Games . The Opening ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. Immediately after
15481-528: The production of the ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling events, which they felt reached the same level as the Olympic Games. Not all Paralympic events have received television coverage; the IPC and its organisers currently contract with the IOC's media unit Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to produce the broadcast feeds for the Paralympics. At the Summer Paralympics, coverage was limited to 16 sports in 2016, but increased to 19 sports in 2020. In 2024, all 22 Summer Paralympic sports were televised for
15618-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
15755-401: The shape of an Agito (which is Latin for 'I move/I shake/I stir'), which is the name given to an asymmetrical crescent specially designed for the Paralympic movement. The three Agitos circle a central point, which is a symbol for the athletes congregating from all points of the globe. The motto and symbol of the IPC were changed in 2003 to their current versions. The change was intended to convey
15892-677: The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid for the Olympic Games . The agreement came into effect at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing, and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. However, the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee (SLOC), chose to follow the practice of "one bid, one city" already at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, with one Organizing Committee for both Games, which
16029-402: The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid for the Olympic Games . The agreement was set to take effect at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. However, the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee (SLOC) chose to follow the practice of "one bid, one city", with one Organizing Committee for both Games, which
16166-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
16303-495: The succeeding hosts of the respective Olympic Games (summer or winter) will enter immediately before the current host in descending order. The host nation presents artistic displays of their culture and folklore. Protocolary segments are held with the speeches given, formally opening the games. After the opening declaration, the Paralympic flag enters the stadium and is hosted along with the Paralympic Anthem, aside from
16440-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
16577-461: The visual system (eye structure, receptors, optic nerve pathway, and visual cortex). The sighted guides for athletes with a visual impairment are such a close and essential part of the competition that the athlete with visual impairment and the guide are considered a team. Beginning in 2012, these guides along with sighted goalkeepers in 5-a-side football became eligible to receive medals of their own. Intellectual Disability – Athletes with
16714-403: The welcome act and the host country anthem and hosting their flag the "Parade of Nations" starts with the athletes into the stadium grouped by nation. Since the 1960 Summer Paralympics , the nations enter the stadium alphabetically according to the host country's or region official language, though with the host country's athletes being the last to enter. Beginning with the 2020 Summer Paralympics,
16851-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
16988-431: The world". Furthermore, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values and to create sport opportunities for all persons with a disability, from beginner to elite level. The IPC has a democratic constitution and structure and is composed of representatives from 183 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), four international organizations of sport for the disabled (IOSDs) and five regional organizations. The IPC's headquarters
17125-600: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
17262-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
17399-547: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
17536-611: Was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the 1988 Summer Olympics , in the same host city, and using the majority of the venues. This set a precedent that was followed in 1992 , 1996 and 2000 . It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001, and
17673-563: Was available only in Europe. Other countries broadcast highlight packages during the Games. No meaningful improvements in coverage occurred until the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. The 2000 Paralympics represented a significant increase in global media exposure for the Paralympic Games. A deal was reached between the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC) and All Media Sports (AMS) to broadcast
17810-492: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
17947-478: Was extended through 2020. On March 10, 2018, the two committees further extended their contract to 2032. Despite being held in the same region, the 1992 Winter Paralympics used different competition venues than those used for the Olympic Games. 1994 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same venues and had the same Organizing Committee as the Winter Olympics . The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik , Sweden. This
18084-591: Was followed up by the 2004 Games in Athens and Beijing in 2008. The agreement was adjusted in 2003. An extension was signed in June 2006. A further extension was signed in 2012, valid until 2020. In March 2018, a historic long-term extension was signed establishing a partnership until 2032. The NPCs receive financial support for the training and development of Paralympic teams, Paralympic athletes and Paralympic hopefuls. There are 17 international federations recognized by
18221-484: Was followed up by the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. The agreement was adjusted in 2003. An extension was signed in June 2006, after some troubles at the 2006 Winter Paralympics . Initially agreed to remain in effect until the 2012 Summer Olympics, this was later extended to encompass all Summer and Winter games up until the 2020 Summer Olympics. Even beyond this, all Summer and Winter host cities currently announced are preparing pairs of Olympic and Paralympics Games. This
18358-458: Was further confirmed when on 10 March 2018, the IOC and the IPC agreed to further extend the contract to the 2032 Summer Olympics. The IOC has written its commitment to equal access to athletics for all people into its charter , which states, The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with
18495-655: Was made upon the request of the sport's community, partly due to the word "sledge" having different meanings across languages. Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Powerlifting Championships and other competitions. Supervises and co-ordinates the World Shooting Para Sport Championships and other competitions. The rebranding saw the sport renamed as "shooting Para sport" to avoid possible confusion with parachuting . Supervises and co-ordinates
18632-730: Was succeeded by Brazil's Andrew Parsons , who was IPC Vice President from 2013 to 2017 and a former President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee . The IPC Governing Board consists of 14 members, of which 12 are elected at the General Assembly, including the President and Vice President. The most recent election for the Governing Board was held on 12 December 2021: The IPC Athletes' Council Chairperson, Jitske Visser , and IPC Athletes' Council First Vice Chairperson, Josh Dueck , also have voting rights on
18769-580: Was the first Paralympics in which multiple categories of athletes with disabilities could compete. The Winter Games were celebrated every four years on the same year as their summer counterpart, just as the Olympics were. This tradition was upheld through the 1992 Games in Albertville , France; after that, beginning with the 1994 Games , the Winter Paralympics and the Winter Olympics have been held in those even-numbered years separate from
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