PARALYMPICS

The Refugee Olympic Team was a wonderful initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and I congratulate them on enabling ten athletes who are refugees to take part in the Rio 2016 Olympics. How can we not be moved by their individual and collective stories?

Thomas Bach will miss the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games here tomorrow - the first time the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not have attended the event for 32 years.

More of the same is promised tonight as Brazil continues its global push to steer the narrative away from the usual suspects; corrupt politicians, bad dudes shooting up in favelas and Zika

Stoke Mandeville Hospital was home to the first Paralympic Games created by Dr Guttman for patients with spinal injuries

The Paralympics is a major international multi-sport games held immediately following the Olympic Games. Physically disabled athletes with Mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness and cerebral palsy, make up the body of the games.

The Paralympics have grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sport events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with able-bodied Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

There are also sports, such as track and Field athletics, that are resistant to Paralympians who wish to compete equally with able-bodied athletes, though there have been Paralympians who have participated in the Olympic Games. The Paralympics games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. The Paralympic Committee of Trinidad and Tobago is the affiliate in this country.