Before every Olympic and Paralympic games, athletes, celebrities, and other public figures come together to take part in the Olympic flame relay.
Earlier in 2024, the Olympic flame made its way from the Greek town of Olympia to Paris, France just in time for the inauguration ceremony.
This year, superstars such as Zinedine Zidane, Snoop Dogg, Thierry Henry, and Arsène Wenger took part in the Olympic flame relay.
Despite Olympic tradition dictating that the flame was to be lit in Olympia and then make its way from there to the host city, this is not true for the Paralympic Games.
The Paralympic Flame Relay for the 2024 event will start in late August in England rather than Greece.
The Paralympic flame will be lit in Stoke Mandeville
On August 24th, the Paralympic flame will be lit in the town of Stoke Mandeville and be carried to Paris for the inauguration of the Paralympic Games on August 28th. But why is the flame being lit in this small English town?
The reason why the flame is lit here is because the Paralympic Games originated in Stoke Mandeville in England. The Paralympics began in 1948, and they were the conception of Ludwig Guttmann, a German-British doctor and neurologist at the Stoke Mandeville Military Hospital.
Guttman had the idea of creating a sporting event that would help soldiers and victims of war recover at the hospital after World War Two. The event was originally known as the “Stoke Mandeville Games.”
By 1960, the Stoke Mandeville Games became the Paralympics
In 1960, the sporting event formerly known as the Stoke Mandeville Games became the Paralympics and was held in Rome a week after the Olympics had finished. To this day, the Olympic flame is lit in Stoke Mandeville to honor Sir Ludwig Guttman and the origins of the Paralympic Games.
The first Paralympics event had some truly notable athletes participating in the Games. Amongst these was Margaret Maughan, who was Britain’s first Paralympic gold medalist. She won gold in archery in the 1960 Games in Rome and went on to win three more gold medals and two silver medals in four Paralympic Games.
Despite Maughan’s impressive legacy, she is not the most decorated Paralympian. In fact, she doesn’t even come close. That title belongs to American Paralympic swimmer, Trischa Zorn, who won 55 Paralympic medals, including 42 golds between 1980 and 2004.
The Paralympics also have team sports. Perhaps the best example of a Paralympic team is Brazil’s football 5-a-side team. Led by Paralympic superstars Richardinho and Jefinho, the Brazilians have won five consecutive gold medals at this event.
