<P> There have been several milestones in the Paralympic movement . The first official Paralympic Games , no longer open solely to war veterans , was held in Rome in 1960 . 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at 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 , South Korea , was another milestone for the Paralympic movement . It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games , in the same host city , and using the same facilities . 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 was recently extended through 2020 . The 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics . </P>
<P> There have been several milestones in the Paralympic movement . The first official Paralympic Games , no longer open solely to war veterans , was held in Rome in 1960 . 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at 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 , South Korea , was another milestone for the Paralympic movement . It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games , in the same host city , and using the same facilities . 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 was recently extended through 2020 . The 1992 Winter Paralympics were the first Winter Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics . </P>
who were the paralympic games initially meant for
who were the paralympic games initially meant for
athletes in wheelchairs
athletes in wheelchairs