The
Paralympic Games is a major international
multi-sport event, involving athletes with a range of
physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power (e.g.
paraplegia and
quadriplegia,
muscular dystrophy,
post-polio syndrome,
spina bifida), impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g.
amputation or
dysmelia), leg length difference,
short stature,
hypertonia,
ataxia,
athetosis,
vision impairment and
intellectual impairment. There are
Winter and
Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective
Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the
International Paralympic Committee (IPC).