The World Abilitysport Games (known as the IWAS World Games before 2023) are a parasports multi-sport event for athletes who use wheelchairs or are amputees. Organized by World Abilitysport (formerly IWAS), the Games are a successor to the original Stoke Mandeville Games founded in 1948 by Ludwig Guttmann, and specifically the International Stoke Mandeville Games—the first international sporting competition for athletes with disabilities which was held in 1952, itself an Olympic year, between British and Dutch athletes and which ultimately was the forerunner to the modern Paralympic Games.

World Abilitysport Games
Formerly
  • International Stoke Mandeville Games (1952–1995)
  • World Wheelchair Games (1997–2003)
  • World Wheelchair and Amputee Games (2005–2007)
  • IWAS World Games (2009–2022)
SportParasports
Founded1948
ContinentInternational (IPC)

The 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 editions of the International Stoke Mandeville Games were held in the same host country as the Summer Olympics; they were later retroactively recognized as also being the first four Paralympic Games. The event continued to be held annually, as simply the International Stoke Mandeville Games, in between Paralympic years.

After the Paralympics expanded to include events for disability classifications other than wheelchairs, the ISMG for wheelchair athletes continued to be hosted annually in Stoke Mandeville, and later other countries, in all non-Paralympic years.

In 2024 the previous IWAS merged with the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) to form World Abilitysport and the IWAS World Games were once more renamed World Abilitysport Games accordingly.

A separate event to be known as the Guttmann Games for events and disciplines not yet on the Paralympic Game schedules, organised by World Abilitysport, has been planned for 2024.

History

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The event was first established in 1948 as the Stoke Mandeville Games by neurologist Ludwig Guttmann, who organized a sporting competition involving World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital rehabilitation facility in Aylesbury, England, taking place concurrently with the first post-war Olympic Games in London. In 1952, the Netherlands joined in the event, creating the first international sports competition for athletes with a disability, after which it was renamed the International Stoke Mandeville Games.[1]

In 1960 and subsequent Olympic years, the ISMG began to increasingly be hosted in the same country (if not the same host city) as their respective Olympics, with all other editions remaining in Stoke Mandeville. The Games were also increasingly referred to as "Paralympics", originally in reference to paraplegia, but later officially referring to an event operating in parallel with the Olympic movement. While the Paralympic Games evolved to include athletes from all disability groups beginning in 1976, the Stoke Mandeville Games continued to be organized as a multi-sport event for wheelchair athletes in non-Paralympic years. Games were held annually in Aylesbury under the direction of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), which later became the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation (ISMWSF).

In 2003, the Games were combined with a competition for amputee athletes organized by the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD). In 2004, ISMWSF and ISOD merged to create the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS). The Games were subsequently renamed the "World Wheelchair and Amputee Games" in 2005, and later renamed to simply the "IWAS World Games".

In 2024 the previous IWAS merged with the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) to form World Abilitysport.

Games by year

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Israeli delegation to the games, 1969

The inaugural competition, initially named "Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralyzed" in 1948, was just named "Stoke Mandeville Games" the next year, before becoming the "International Stoke Mandeville Games" (ISMG) in 1952.

Beginning in 1960 during Summer Olympic years, the ISMG were held in the same host city as the Summer Olympics. These particular editions of the Games were retroactively recognised as being the first four Paralympic Games. The Games were otherwise hosted in Stoke Mandeville in all other years. Beginning in 1976, the Paralympic Games began hosting events for amputees and the visually impaired; at this point, the Paralympics were no longer credited as being editions of the ISMG, but the ISMG went on hiatus during Paralympic years.

Year Name of the event Host Annotation
Stoke Mandeville Games
1948 Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralyzed[2]   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom July 28, 1948, archery competition, 16 competitors[3] (14 men, 2 women[4])
1949 Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom Six teams competed.'wheelchair netball' (later wheelchair basketball) was introduced.[5]
1950 Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1951 Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
International Stoke Mandeville Games
1952 1st International Stoke Mandeville Games[6]   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom A Dutch team participated, making it an international event for the first time.[3]
1953 2nd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1954 3rd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1955 4th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1956 5th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1957 6th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1958 7th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1959 8th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
Combined International Stoke Mandeville Games and Paralympic Games era
1960 9th International Stoke Mandeville Games[7] and 1960 Summer Paralympics   Rome, Italy 400 competitors from 23 countries (10 with medalists) in 8 sports. First edition occurring outside UK, in the same host city as the Summer Olympic Games.

Held in Rome in the hope of becoming better internationally recognized and integrated with other national and international sports federations to organize what will become recognised as the Paralympic Games.

1961 10th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1962 11th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1963 12th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1964 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games[8] and 1964 Summer Paralympics  Tokyo, Japan Second Paralympic Games retrospectively
1965 14th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1966 15th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1967 16th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1968 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games[9] and 1968 Summer Paralympics   Tel Aviv, Israel Third Paralympic Games retrospectively. First edition held outside the Olympic host city.
1969 18th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1970 19th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1971 20th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1972 1972 Summer Paralympics[9][10] and 21st International Stoke Mandeville Games   Heidelberg, West Germany Fourth Paralympic Games retrospectively, First edition where 'Paralympic Games' title took primacy. Final edition which served as both International Stoke Mandeville Games and Paralympic Games. Held in Olympic host country for first time since 1964.
1973 22nd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1974 23rd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1975 24th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
Paralympic Games and International Stoke Mandeville Games diverge.
1977 25th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1978 26th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1979 27th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1981 28th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1982 29th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1983 30th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1985 31st International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1986 32nd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1987 33rd International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1989 34th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1990 35th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1991 36th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1993 37th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1994 38th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
1995 39th International Stoke Mandeville Games   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom
World Wheelchair Games
1997 World Wheelchair Games From 1997, the International Stoke Mandeville Games became the "World Wheelchair Games"
1998 World Wheelchair Games
1999 World Wheelchair Games   Christchurch, New Zealand
2001 World Wheelchair Games[11]
2002 World Wheelchair Games[11]
2003 World Wheelchair Games[11]   Christchurch, New Zealand
World Wheelchair and Amputee Games
2005 World Wheelchair and Amputee Games[12]   Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Renamed "World Wheelchair and Amputee Games"

Over 700 athletes from 44 nations. Five events: track and field, table tennis, archery, shooting, and billiards.[13]

2006 World Wheelchair and Amputee Games   Bangalore, Karnataka, India
2007 World Wheelchair and Amputee Games[14]   Taipei, Chinese Taipei
IWAS World Games
2009 IWAS World Games[15][16][17][18]   Bangalore, Karnataka, India Renamed the IWAS World Games. IWAS World Games move to a biennial cycle from 2010.
2011 IWAS World Games   Sharjah, United Arab Emirates December 1–10, 2011[19]
2013 IWAS World Games   Stadskanaal, Netherlands
2015 IWAS World Games   Sochi, Russia
2017 IWAS World Games   Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal
2019 IWAS World Games   Sharjah, United Arab Emirates IWAS World Games returned to annual cycle
2020 IWAS World Games   Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]
2021 IWAS World Games   Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]
2022 IWAS World Games[22]   Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal Originally scheduled to be hosted by Sochi, IWAS stripped Sochi of its hosting rights in March 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating.[23]

The Games were relocated to Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal, which was originally scheduled to host the Games in 2021.[24]

World Abilitysport Games
2023 World Abilitysport Games[25]   Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand[26][27] Renamed "World Abilitysport Games" after the merger of IWAS and Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). The separate CPISRA Games are not considered part of the history of the WASG.

IWAS Under 23 World Games (IWAS Junior World Games)

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For some years now, the IWAS Federation has hosted junior competitions, which were named IWAS World Junior Games by 2015. Since 2016 they are called IWAS Under 23 World Games and will only be played in years with even numbers.[28]

No. Year Dates Host City Venue Events Results List
1 2005 6–7 July   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom Result list[permanent dead link]
2 2006 14–16 July   Dublin, Ireland Result list
3 2007 4–6 April   Ekurhuleni, South Africa Germiston Sports Precinct Result list Archived 2016-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
4 2008 18–27 July   Piscataway, New Jersey, United States Results Archived 2016-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
5 2009 16–19 July   Nottwil, Switzerland SPZ Nottwil Result list[permanent dead link]
6 2010 19–26 August   Olomouc, Czech Republic Results Archived 2018-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
7 2011 14–21 April   Dubai, United Arab Emirates Result List[permanent dead link]
8 2012 19–21 July   Olomouc, Czech Republic Results[permanent dead link]
9 2013 14–21 August   Mayaguez, Puerto Rico Central American Stadium Ergebnisliste[permanent dead link]
10 2014 3–7 August   Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom Results
11 2015 2–8 July   Stadskanaal, Netherlands Sportpark Stadskanaal Ergebnisliste[permanent dead link]
12 2016 29 June–3 July   Prague, Czech Republic Results[permanent dead link]

World Abilitysport Guttmann Games

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In 2024, World Abilitysport announced its inaugural World Abilitysport Guttmann Games. Named after the founder of the Stoke Mandeville Games, the event will take place in Stoke Mandeville in July 2024, and feature competition in sports not on the Paralympic programme. It is scheduled to feature para dance sport and power hockey competitions, as well as wheelchair cricket as a demonstration sport.[29] The event will be broadly analogous to the World Games, a similar multi-sport event for non-Olympic sports and disciplines.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vanlandewijck, Yves (2011). The Paralympic Athlete : Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 3–30.
  2. ^ Paralympics: Where Heroes Come Archived 2010-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, by Dr. Robert Steadward and Cynthia Peterson. Edmonton, Alberta: One Shot Holdings Ltd., 1997, melazerte.com, May 30, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Remembering Paralympics past, BBC, July 15, 2008.
  4. ^ The Paralympics: It all started with Veterans Archived 2016-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. Veteran Affairs Canada
  5. ^ "the very first gamez". mandeville legacy.
  6. ^ Chronology of Events in the Development of Wheelchair Basketball Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF)
  7. ^ Rome 1960, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
  8. ^ The Thirteenth International Stoke Mandeville Games for The Paralysed, dinf.ne.jp, March 17, 1999.
  9. ^ a b Summer Games Governance 1960 to 1992 Archived 2012-12-16 at archive.today, International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS)
  10. ^ 21st Wheelchair Olympics, by Charles J. Bierbauer, The Pittsburgh Press, August 1, 1972, Google News Archive Search
  11. ^ a b c 2003 World Wheelchair Games / Jeux Mondiaux 2003 Archived 2010-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
  12. ^ 2005 World Wheelchair and Amputee Games Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, cwsa.ca
  13. ^ 21. Sports – Accomplishments Abroad – The First IWAS World Wheelchair and Amputee Games Archived 2011-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, gio.gov.tw
  14. ^ Singapore wins 14 medals at 2007 World Wheelchair and Amputee Games, sglead.wordpress.com, September 18, 2007.
  15. ^ Official website of the 2009 IWAS World Games Archived 2010-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ 2009 IWAS World Wheelchair & Amputee Games, International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Archived 2012-09-08 at archive.today
  17. ^ The Official Website of 2009 IWAS World Games Archived 2010-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ 2009 IWAS World Games[permanent dead link], International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), November 24, 2009.
  19. ^ IWAS announced today that the bid to host the IWAS World Games[permanent dead link], International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), February 8, 2011.
  20. ^ "IWAS World Games cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic". www.insidethegames.biz. 2020-10-03. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  21. ^ "IWAS World Games in Portugal cancelled due to COVID-19". www.insidethegames.biz. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  22. ^ "IWAS World Games 2022 - World Abilitysport". worldabilitysport.org. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  23. ^ "IWAS Statement – Russia and Belarus". Int'l Wheelchair & Amputee Sports Federation. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  24. ^ "IWAS relocates 2022 World Games to Vila Real de Santo Antonio in Portugal". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  25. ^ "2023 World Abilitysport Games - World Abilitysport". worldabilitysport.org. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  26. ^ "World Abilitysport". Move United. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  27. ^ "Nakon Ratchasima in Thailand awarded 2023 IWAS World Games hosting rights". www.insidethegames.biz. 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  28. ^ IWAS announces a new look for their IWAS Games programme[permanent dead link], auf: iwasf.com, retrieved 9 September 2016.
  29. ^ "Inaugural World Abilitysport Guttmann Games Details Announced - World Abilitysport". worldabilitysport.org. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
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