Stoke Mandeville Games
Aylesbury, England. Archery on a hospital lawn grew into the Paralympics
Overview
On 29 July 1948, the day London opened the postwar Olympics, neurologist Ludwig Guttmann staged an archery contest for 16 paralyzed war veterans at Stoke Mandeville hospital. The meet grew yearly, went international in 1952, and moved to Rome in 1960 as the first Paralympic Games. Guttmann, a refugee from Nazi Germany, saw sport as therapy for body and mind. The Paris 2024 Paralympic flame was lit at Stoke Mandeville.
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