Paralympic Games in the context of "South Africa at the 1964 Summer Paralympics"

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; German: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.

The IPC leads the Paralympic Movement, oversees the delivery of the Paralympic Games and supports its 200 plus member organisations to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence. Founded on 22 September 1989 in Düsseldorf, then part of West Germany, its vision is to "make for an inclusive world through Para sport". Furthermore, the IPC aims to use Para sport as a catalyst to changing attitudes and legislation, creating greater opportunities for the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities.

The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and (since 1992) hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.

The Winter Paralympics began in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Those Games were the first Paralympics that featured athletes other than those in wheelchairs. The Games have expanded and grown, including the Summer Paralympic Games, to become part of the largest international sporting event after the Olympics. Given their expansion, the need for a very specific classification system has arisen. This system has also given rise to controversy and opened the door for various forms of cheating, which has tainted the integrity of the Games.

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The USOPC is one of only four NOCs in the world that also serve as the National Paralympic Committee for their country. The USOPC is responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing U.S. teams for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games, Parapan American Games and Junior Pan American Games and serves as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the United States.

The Olympic Movement is overseen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC is supported by 35 international federations that govern each sport on a global level and the 207 National Olympic Committees that oversee Olympic sport as a whole in their respective nations, and national federations that administer each sport at the national level (called national governing bodies, or NGBs, in the United States). The National Paralympic Committee is the sole governing body responsible for the selection and training of all athletes participating in the Paralympic Games.

The 1964 Summer Paralympics (Japanese: 1964年夏季パラリンピック, Hepburn: 1964-Nen Kaki Pararinpikku), originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the second Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, and were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics. The Summer Paralympics, so far the only Paralympics held in Tokyo to take place with Spectators, as the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 1964 Games, although still formally an edition of the International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the first to use the term "Paralympic" in association with the event; the term "Paralympic Games" was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first in 1984, while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was formed in 1989.

The 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, retroactively designated as the 1960 Summer Paralympics, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952. They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. The term "Paralympic Games" was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first in 1984, while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was formed in 1989.

The Games were held in Rome, Italy from September 18 to 25, 1960, with the 1960 Summer Olympics. The only disability included in these Paralympics was spinal cord injury. There were 400 athletes from 23 countries.

The 1976 Summer Paralympics (French: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 3 to 11 August 1976, marking the first time a Paralympics was held in the Americas and in Canada. The games began two days after the close of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.