Wheelchair racing

Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy.

As many veterans of war returned home with physical impairments and psychological needs, new programs had to be put in place to help make the transition back into society, as traditional methods were not able to accommodate.

[2] The British government is credited with being the first to recognize these needs by opening the Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England, in 1944.

Sir Ludwig Guttmann, director of this center, introduced competitive sports as an integral part of the rehabilitation of disabled veterans.

To honor the social and human value derived from the wheelchair sport movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized Guttmann's work in 1956 and awarded the Stoke Mandeville Games the Sir Thomas Fearnley Cup for meritorious achievement in service to the Olympic movement.

Beginning with wheelchair archery, lawn bowls, table tennis, shot put, javelin, and club throw were added to the growing list.

Athletes who are in a wheelchair can also participate in field events as well; these include shot put, javelin, and discus.

Athletes are divided into categories depending on their disability, these are spinal cord injury or an amputee, or cerebral palsy.

Rule 159 Para 3 The maximum diameter of the large wheel including the inflated tyre shall not exceed 70 cm (2.3 ft).

This rule may be waived for persons requiring a single arm drive chair, if so stated on their medical and Games identity cards.

Rule 159 Para 9 No part of the chair may protrude behind the vertical plane of the back edge of the rear tyres.

Rule 159 Para 13 Athletes must ensure that no part of their lower limbs can fall to the ground or track during the event.