BEIJING, Sept. 3 -- Athletics in general have a long history dating back to the times of the ancient Greeks. For athletes with a disability, the first organized competitions began in 1952 when Wheelchair Racing was included at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England within the framework of the Games organized for World War II veterans.

    Athletics has been part of the Paralympic Games since the very beginning in 1960. Over the next twenty years, additional groups of athletes with a disability were able to join the Paralympic competition.

   (Source: en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn)