Paralympiad

Blend of Paralympic +‎ Olympiad, or from para- (prefix referring to disability sport) +‎ Olympiad.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpæɹəˈlɪmpiæd/, /-əd/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (Southern England)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpæɹəˈlɪmpiˌæd/, /-əd/, /ˌpɛ-/
• Hyphenation: Pa‧ra‧lym‧pi‧ad

Paralympiad (plural Paralympiads)

1. (sports) An occurrence of the Paralympic Games.

   Synonyms: Paralympic Games, Paralympics

   • [1954 November 9, “Wheelchair Olympics”, in The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alta.: The Southam Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 1:

     Teams from many nations as far apart as Canada, Portugal and Pakistan, were entered in the sports festival held at Stoke Mandeville, England, this summer. […] Perhaps at this time, when the bloody wars of this century are in the forefront of our minds, the most significant aspect of the Paralympiad is the spirit of comradely sportsmanship which was shared by all entrants.

     Used to refer to the Stoke Mandeville Games (now the IWAS World Games) which were the precursor of the Paralympic Games, the latter first held in 1960.]

   • 1964 October 31, Tom Hopkins, “Sportraitures: The ‘Paralympiad’”, in William H. Ewing, editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, volume 53, number 305, Honolulu, Hi.: Porter Dickinson, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, columns 1–2:

     Another group of athletes, less fortunate than the Olympians, move into Tokyo next week. They are the Paralympic squads representing 23 nations who will compete in an international sports meet that was founded in 1948. Sixty-five of the athletes, whose eligibility requires they be confined to wheel chairs, will represent the United States, seeking its third straight "Paralympiad" crown. […] The United States paralymics^[sic] are a hand-selected group. They gained their berths in the Paralympiad by virtue of outstanding performances in the eighth annual United States Wheelchair Games held in June at Bulova Park, New York.

   • 1976 January–February, George Conn, “Basketball Fireworks … Wheelchair Style”, in Ron Bourgea, editor, American Rehabilitation, volume 1, number 3, Washington, D.C.: Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, →OCLC, pages 16–17:

     In 1976, following the regular Olympics, Montreal will host the Paralympics. There, for the 5th Paralympiad, the nations of six continents will assemble for competition, including basketball.

   • 1994 September 30, “Federal Transit Administration [Formula Grants (including Transfer of Funds)]”, in An Act Making Appropriations for the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 1995, and for Other Purposes (Public Law 103-331, 103d Congress; House Resolution 4556), [Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office], →OCLC, title I, page 108 Stat. 2482:

     That of the funds provided under this head, $16,000,000 shall be available for grants for the costs of planning, delivery and temporary use of transit vehicles for special transportation needs of the XXVth Summer Olympiad and the Xth Paralympiad for the Disabled, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, of which $5,600,000 shall be available for the Paralympic Games: […]

   • 1997, Gill Clarke, Monica Humberstone, “Managing a Women’s Sport Organisation: Interpreting Biographies”, in Gill Clarke, Barbara Humberstone, editors, Researching Women and Sport, Basingstoke, Hampshire, London: Macmillan Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 8:

     As a contestant in the swimming events in the 1976 and 1980 Paralympiad she [Monica Vaughan] gained five and four gold medals respectively for Britain.

   • 2000, Cynthia Holzschuher, “The Paralympic Games”, in Evan D. Forbes, editor, The Olympic Dream: Primary (United States Olympic Committee’s Curriculum Guide to the Olympic Games; Teacher Created Resources; TCR 2200), Torrance, Calif.: Griffin Publishing Group, published 2005, →ISBN, page 77:

     In September 1992, again following the Olympic Games, Barcelona welcomed 3044 athletes to the IX Paralympiad.

   • 2003, Gerard Goggin, Christopher Newell, “Getting the Picture on Disability: Digital Broadcasting Futures”, in Digital Disability: The Social Construction of Disability in New Media (Critical Media Studies), Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, part III (New Mediations of Disability), page 91:

     Apart from the opening and closing ceremonies, the rest of the Paralympiad was obviously not deemed of sufficient entertainment or information value, prior to the event, to be accorded the same "live" event television coverage as its Olympic counterpart.

   • 2017, Anthony J. Bush, “From Melksham to Rio: A Coach’s 20-year Journey in Para-swimming”, in Geoffrey Z. Kohe, Derek M. Peters, editors, High Performance Disability Sport Coaching, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 165:

     Tracing the genealogy of para-swimming reveals that since its inclusion as one of eight sports at the first official Paralympiad in Rome 1960, through to and beyond the first summer Paralympic Games in Toronto 1976, it has undeniably become one of the biggest sports at the Paralympic Games in terms of both the numbers of competitors and number of events.

   • 2017, P. David Howe, Shane Kerr, “Observing Legacy: Ethnographic Moments in and around the London 2012 Paralympic Games”, in Phil Cohen, Paul Watt, editors, London 2012 and the Post-Olympics City: A Hollow Legacy?, London: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, page 340:

     At London 2012 we expected the spotlight to be much more intense since with every passing Paralympiad there has been an increased media presence and we were not disappointed. […] Events such as the World Cup and coverage of the London Marathon wheelchair race (which in 2013 hosted the International Paralympic Committee [IPC] Marathon World Cup) keep the British public mindful of Paralympic sport between Paralympiads.

   • 2019, Julie Cornaton, Angela Schweizer, Sylvain Ferez, Nicolas Bancel, “The Divisive Origins of Sports for Physically Disabled People in Switzerland (1956–1968)”, in Nicolas Bancel, Julie Cornaton, Anne Marcellini, editors, Being Disabled, Becoming a Champion, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:

     […] Switzerland took part in all the Paralympiads since 1960 and at the time of the 1984 Games at Stoke Mandeville, wheelchair racers had already won 43 medals (18 gold medals).

2. (sports, rare) A period of four years between occurrences of the Paralympic Games.
   • 2006, Liam McCann, “The Paralympic Games: Rome 1960 – Athens 2004”, in The Olympics: Facts, Figures & Fun, London: Facts, Figures & Fun, AAPPL Artists’ and Photographers’ Press, →ISBN, page 94:

     The Games of the VI Paralympiad attracted over a million spectators.

   • 2007, David A. Grieg, “Splitting Hairs: The Struggle between the Canadian Federal Government and the Organizing Committee of the 1976 Torontolympiad concerning South African Participation”, in Gerald P. Schaus, Stephen R. Wenn, editors, Onward to the Olympics: Historical Perspectives on the Olympic Games (Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece; no. 5), Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, →ISBN, part II (The Modern Olympics), page 298:

     With the Games of the Fifth Paralympiad awarded to Canada, organizers had their sights on hosting the most inclusive and largest Games ever.

   • 2018 April 12, Tom Taylor, “Paralympics a Source of Inspiration, Advanced Technology and (Yes) Doping”, in Sports Illustrated‎, New York, N.Y.: Meredith Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 November 2020:

     [Robert] Riener hopes, in 2020, to hold the Games of the II Cybathlon in Tokyo after the Games of the XVI Paralympiad. Who knows, by 2028 or '32, perhaps there will be only one Games, for competitors of all abilities—or disabilities?

3. (by extension) Usually preceded by a descriptive word: a competition or series of competitions for disabled participants involving sports or other activities.
   • 1996 June, G. Andrew Fleming, “The Paralympian—Another Kind of Hero”, in William Peters, editor, U.S. Society & Values: Electronic Journals of the U.S. Information Agency: America’s Olympic Summer: Reflecting U.S. Values, volume 1, number 5, Washington, D.C.: United States Information Agency, →OCLC, page 23, column 1:

     Affiliated programs [to the Third Paralympic Congress] also will include an International Trade and Economic Initiative for international government and business leaders; an Abilities Expo, featuring exhibits of assistive technology and services; and the Cultural Paralympiad, a celebration of the work of internationally acclaimed disabled artists.

   • 2012, Selina Khoo, “New Direction: Disability Sport in Malaysia”, in Jill M. Le Clair, editor, Disability in the Global Sport Arena: A Sporting Chance (Sport in the Global Society: Contemporary Perspectives), Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:

     The Malaysian Paralympiad, a national multisport and multidisability sport competition, has been organized biennially in Malaysia since 1982, and has grown steadily in terms of the variety of sports and number of participants, with the aim of training coaches and developing technical skills. Despite such growth, the Malaysian Paralympiad has helped to develop sport to only a limited degree given that there is no year-long training, rather most of the training for the athletes is held prior to competition; also there are hardly any regular sports activities and competitions.

   • 2017, Anthony Brooks, “Accessibility: Definition, Labeling, and CVAA Impact”, in Anthony Lewis Brooks, Sheryl Brahnam, Bill Kapralos, Lakhmi C. Jain, editors, Recent Advances in Technologies for Inclusive Well-being: From Worn to Off-body Sensing, Virtual Worlds, and Games for Serious Applications (Intelligent Systems Reference Library; 119), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, part V (Ethics and Accessibility), section 14.2.2 (Accessibility Exemplified: The First Cultural Paralympiad), page 305:

     This contribution, authored in 2016, marks two decades since the author's research and body of mature work was presented as a performance art production under the umbrella of the first cultural event that supplemented the Paralympics—The Cultural Paralympiad—when the Olympics were hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. […] The author's SoundScapes event for the first Paralympiad was hosted at the Rialto Center for the Arts, an 833-seat performing-arts venue in downtown Atlanta, owned and operate by Georgia State University.

Sense 2 (“period of four years between occurrences of the Paralympic Games”) is chiefly used when an occurrence of the Paralympic Games is referred to formally as, for example, “the Games of the XVI Paralympiad”.

• Asiad
• Olympiad
• Spartakiad

• para-athlete
• Paralympic, paralympic
• Paralympic Games
• Paralympian
• parasport, para-sport

• -iad

• Paralympic Games on Wikipedia.Wikipedia