The paper presents the most important trends in sport for the disabled in the period between the 1st and the 12th Paralympic Games. Three stages in the development of the Paralympics can be distinguished. The parameters of the distinction are the quantity and distribution of sports and events, types of competition, and types of disabilities. The most recent stage of Paralympics development witnessed the emergence of functional classification, which helped to define the level of physical and psychological disabilities with reference to different sports and medical groups. This innovation helped to reduce the quantity of swimming and athletic Paralympic events. The stability of the Paralympics program is the main feature of the most recent stage. New preparation methodologies, increasing capacities, non-training activities and better sports equipment have had a great impact on setting new world and Paralympic records. The increasing number of disabled athletes from many countries is an important indicator of the growing popularity of sports for the disabled and Paralympics in the world. Countries such as Ukraine, China, Iraq and Egypt have become new leaders of the Paralympics movement. The prognostic data allow us to expect that the main developmental trends in sports for the disabled during the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing will continue, owing to modern production technologies of sports equipment and new training techniques.
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