The name " Paralympics " mean something unlike than you think .

Paralympics season is upon us, and I, for one, am super excited about it! It’s safe to say the Paralympics deserve more hype, so I’ve done my research. Here are some fascinating facts about the history of the Paralympics, and then a few fun tidbits about the 2024 Games:

paralympics are here … can finally go back to sitting in front of the television set watching random sportspic.twitter.com/Ki57SlyFbF

1.The Paralympics started as a game in a military hospital to try and help paraplegic patients — who were allWorld War II veterans— get better quickly.

2.You might be wondering why the Paralympics are called that — and it’s not what you might think. “Para” means"alongside"inGreek, and the Paralympics arealongsidethe Olympics. Get it?

3.The Paralympics used to only allow athletes in wheelchairs to compete, but therules changedin 1976, when people with other disabilities were included.

4.Wheelchair rugby used to be called"murderball"because of how intensely the wheelchairs sometimes smash into each other. (Yes, seriously.)

5.There are 2 sports that take place at the Paralympicsexclusively! They’re called boccia and goalball.

6.In para archery, people who don’t have use of their hands or arms can (and have, several times)shoot with their feet.

7.For blind football and goalball, you might be wondering how exactly athletes know where the ball is if they can’t see it. Well, the ball ismade with bellsinside of it, so athletes have to listen to where the ball is.

8.Sitting volleyball is literally playedsitting— not in wheelchairs, but on the ground. Athletes have toleave their wheelchairson the side.

9.In wheelchair basketball (one of my favourite events, I’ll have you know), the hoop is just as high as it is in regular basketball —3.05 metersfrom the ground! So they play the exact same game as nondisabled athletes, just in wheelchairs.

And now, somefun factsspecifically about this year’s Paralympics:

10.TheParalympic Refugee teamis the biggest ever this year, with 8 athletes and one guide runner (whose job is toguide visually impaired athletes).

11.Also, this year broke the record formost female athletesat the Paralympics — there are 1,983 women competing this year, which is 45% of the total athletes.

12.Phryges, the mascots for both the Olympics and Paralympics, look like this — and they’re seen walking around during the Games (like in the middle of theathletes' parade). They alsocovered a carwith Phryges just for the Paralympic Games.

13.The tragicHumboldt Broncos bus crash, which happened in Saskatchewan in 2018, left 16 people killed and 13 injured — and it was a huge tragedy for all of Canada. One of the athletes injured in the crash, Jacob Wasserman, iscompeting in the Paralympicsfor the first time this year.

14.For the Triathlon event this year, the Paralympic organizers switched around the dates last-minute. Why? Because ofwater quality problemsin the Seine river. They had to cancel a pre-Olympics swimming event last summer because of sewer issues, too (I know, ew), so clearly this is a recurring problem.

15.AdorableOlympics-Paralympics couplealert!! Tara Davis-Woodhall, an American athlete who won gold in women’s long jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is married to Paralympian and silver medalist ​​Hunter Woodhall.

16.The youngest Paralympic athlete this year is swimmer Iona Winnifrith, who is 13. She wontwo gold medalsat this year’s World Para Swimming Championships, too, and she’s ready to make a splash at the Paralympics. (OK, sorry, that was bad).

17.Jürgen Klopp is one of the top football (soccer) managers in the world — you might know him from managing the Liverpool Premier League Team — and he came to the 2024 Paris Paralympics towatch his friendWojtek Czyz compete in para badminton. Adorable!!!

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The name “Paralympics” means something different than you think.

Nurses attend to patients in a hospital room, with medical equipment around the beds

Two athletes, one with a "Guide" bib, and the other with bib number 1411, running on a track at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games

Kody Ratt plays wheelchair rugby against a UK player during a match at the EDF European Paralympic Championships in Paris

Hidetaka Sugimura, in a wheelchair, competes in a boccia event at the Paralympics. He is wearing a white sports jersey with the number 2205

Man with no arms pulling back a bowstring with his foot, focused on aiming the arrow

Two blindfolded soccer players, one wearing yellow and blue, the other in a light blue and white jersey, compete for the ball during a match

Paralympic sitting volleyball match, players from opposing teams in action reaching for the ball

Athletes in wheelchairs compete in a basketball game. Players in blue jerseys from GBR face off against players in white and red jerseys from another team

Athletes from the Refugee Paralympic Team march in the opening ceremony, wearing white jackets with colorful patterns. One athlete carries the team's flag

Swimmer with swim cap and goggles, wearing a black swimsuit, celebrates by holding up three fingers at a pool's edge with lane number 6 in the background

A car covered in numerous plush toy mascots is displayed at an outdoor event with a crowd in the background

Line of men on a red carpet, led by a man in a blue wheelchair. They are dressed in suits, some with patterned shirts

Paralympian Claire Cashmore runs out of the water during a triathlon with two high-rise buildings in the background. A masked official stands nearby

Serena Williams and coach celebrate joyfully as she is lifted in a jubilant hug at an athletic event

Swimmer during a butterfly stroke in a pool wearing a yellow cap and goggles, with water splashing around

Two men are standing together, smiling. One is wearing a black polo shirt and the other a white athletic shirt