The modern Olympic games started in Athens, but the Paralympic games had an altogether different start.
Born not on Mount Olympus, but in the small English village of Stoke Mandeville, remnants of the original athletes village can still be seen in the parking lot of the new sports centre.
The idea of a ‘parallel’ games was the inspiration of Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a neurosurgeon who came to the UK shortly before the outbreak of the Second world war.
He was stripped of his ability to practice medicine in Germany by the Nazi government in 1938.
#Germany #Olympics #OlympicGames #Paralympics #ParalympicGames
