Finally. The Paralympics to be Aired Live in U.S.

I originally wrote this post for my Journalism class and decided to place it on my personal blog :) Hope you enjoy! 

London 2012′s Opening Ceremonies
Courtesy of Google images.

For the first time in 53 years since they started, the Paralympics (Olympics for the physically disabled) will be seen live on television in the United States.

For the 2012 London Paralympics, NBC aired only about 5.5 hours of the Paralympic Games, which were mostly of highlights, and not of live events. The only places you could have seen the Games live were to tune in on the Team USA website and/or their YouTube channel under ParalympicSportTV. After receiving many views on the website and YouTube channel, there were many complaints because they weren’t on television.

HISTORY of Paralympics

1948	First organized athletic day for disabled athletes. Dr. Ludwig Guttmann hosted the competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries.
1960	First official Paralympic Games, held in Rome, and was no longer open entirely to war veterans. 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the Games.
1964	First organization, International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) was founded.  It was dedicated to focus on advancement of athletic opportunities.
1976	Athletes with different disabilities were included to take part in the Games. Also, in Sweden, the first Winter Paralympic Games were held.
1988	First time the term “Paralympic” came into an official use.
1989	ISOD reorganized to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement.
2001	International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IPC agreed that host cities would have to manage both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2012	London 2012 held the largest Paralympics ever with 4,302 athletes which have shown a major growth between 1960 and now.
2013	Was announced that NBC will show television coverage of both the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games.

NBC Olympics and the U.S. Olympic Committee have come together and agreed on coverage of the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Winter Paralympics will be held in Sochi, Russia during the week of March 7-16. It will receive 50 hours of television coverage.

2016 Summer Paralympics will be held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil during the week of September 7-18. It will receive 66 hours of television coverage.

Sports to be seen at the Winter Paralympics:

- Alpine Skiing
- Biathlon
- Cross-Country Skiing
- Ice Sledge Hockey
- Wheelchair curling

Interested in watching the Paralympics? Tune in at NBC and NBCSN (NBC Sports Network) and again the Team USA website and YouTube Channel.