The International Paralympics Committee has declared the origin point for the lighting of all forthcoming Paralympic torches. Mirroring the traditional Olympic Flame that is ignited at Olympia in Greece, the commencement of the Paralympic Torch Relay will now find its own home soil in Buckinghamshire. Here, the flame will be brought to life at Stoke Mandeville, a site rich in Paralympic legacy and recognized universally as the cradle of the Paralympic movement.
This radiant symbol will in due course serve to ignite the torches of the forthcoming 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. The unification of all subsequent Paralympic flames at Stoke Mandeville is anticipated to heighten global cognizance of both the location and the pivotal figure behind its historical significance, Sir Ludwig Guttmann.
World War II witnessed the British government assigning Dr. Guttmann the task of inaugurating a center for spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Fast forwarding to just four years later, Guttmann pioneered the Stoke Mandeville Games, a contest for wheelchair athletes. These games were held concurrently with the inauguration of the Olympic Games in London. Gradually, this event evolved to encompass international athletes, ultimately adopting the moniker of the Paralympic Games during the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics.
Reflecting on the chronicles of this great movement, President of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, stated, “As we stand 75 years from the historic inception of the first Stoke Mandeville Games, it is only fitting that we acknowledge that Stoke Mandeville will play a more substantial role in all future editions of the Paralympic Games.”
Parsons added, “The Paralympic Movement bears an immeasurable debt of gratitude to both Stoke Mandeville and Sir Ludwig Guttmann.” This move certainly cements the bond between the birth of the Paralympic movement and its future, reinforcing Stoke Mandeville’s historic position on the global stage.
