Paralympic Games

The first Games for athletes with disabilities was held on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games. Considered to be the first ever Paralympic Games, Olympic style Games for athletes with a disability was organized in Rome in 1960, immediately after the Olympic Games. After 1960, the Paralympic Games have evolved into a major sports event, second only to the Olympic Games and have been held every four years, the same year as the Olympic Games. Both Olympic and Paralympic Games have always taken place at the same venue since 1988.

In 1996, intellectual disability became one of the disability categories in the Paralympic Games for the first time. After four years, athletes with intellectual disability worldwide were unfortunately banned from the Games because the Spanish basketball team was found filled with able bodies to achieve the gold medal in the 2000 Paralympics. After years of negotiation between the corresponding organizations and the development of a mature classification mechanism, the ban was finally lifted in 2009, giving athletes an invaluable opportunity to return and compete with world elites in the 2012 Paralympics.

Result Summary of HKSAPID Delegates in Paralympic Games

Date	Venue	HKSAPID Athelete Number	Event	Medal
				Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	4	Swimming	1	–	–	1
			Table Tennis	–	–	1	1
			Sub-total	1	0	1	2
2012	London, UK	7	Athletics	–	–	–	–
			Swimming	–	–	2	2
			Table Tennis	1	1	–	2
			Sub-total	1	1	2	4
2008	Beijing, China	0		–	–	–	–
2004	Athens, Greece	2		–	1*	–	1
2000	Sydney, Australia	9		1	1	–	2
1996	Atlanta, US	0		–	–	–	–

The participation ban on athletes with intellectual disability had not been lifted in 2004 so ID athletes could only take part in table tennis demonstration games.