page_title: Parasports
section_title: Sports
hierarchical_section_title: Parasports / Sports
caption_attribution_description: English: A runner gives a friendly tap on the shoulder of wheelchair racer David Bizet as he approaches the Trocadéro refreshment tables in the 2014 Paris Marathon.
context_page_description: Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are variations on existing able-bodied sports, while others such as goalball have been specifically created for persons with a disability and do not have an able-bodied equivalent. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary. At a competitive level, disability sport classifications are applied to allow people of varying abilities to face similar opposition.
  The term "parasports" arose from a portmanteau of the words paraplegic and sports. Though the sport has since included athletes of disabilities other than paraplegia, the term persists as a catch-all. Other terms for the concept include adapted sports, adaptive sports, disability sports, and disabled sports. The term Paralympic sports may also be used interchangeably with parasports, though technically this only refers to sports contested at the Paralympic Games.
context_section_description: A wide range of sports have been adapted to be played by people with various disabilities, as well as several that are unique just to disabled athletes. Within each movement, different sports are practiced at different levels; for example, not all sports in the Paralympic movement are part of the Paralympic Games. In addition, many sports are practiced by persons with a disability outside the formal sports movements.
caption: A wheelchair racer during the Marathon International de Paris (Paris Marathon) in 2014.
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