What is IWAS World Games?
The '''International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Games''' (or '''IWAS World Games''') are a multi-sport competition for [[Sports for the disabled|athletes with a disability]]. They led to setting up the [[Paralympic Games]]. The competition has been formerly known as the '''World Wheelchair and Amputee Games''', the '''World Wheelchair Games''', the '''International Stoke Mandeville Games''', the '''Stoke Mandeville Games''', and in the 1960s and 1970s was often called the Wheelchair Olympics. The first Games were in 1948. The [[neurologist]] Sir [[Ludwig Guttmann]] organized a sporting competition for [[World War II]] [[Veteran|veterans]] with [[Spinal cord|spinal cord injuries]] at the [[Stoke Mandeville Hospital]] in [[Aylesbury]] on July 28th 1948, the same day as the Opening Ceremony of the [[1948 Olympic Games]] in [[London]]. In 1952, the [[Netherlands]] joined in the event. This was the first international sports competition for disabled people.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2 September 2008|title=Paralympics traces roots to Second World War|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/2.720/paralympics-traces-roots-to-second-world-war-1.697123|access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref> The [[Paralympic Games]],which started in 1960 now include athletes from all disability groups. The IWAS games are multi-sport events just for [[wheelchair]] athletes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-21|title=History - World Abilitysport|url=https://worldabilitysport.org/about/who-we-are/history/|access-date=2023-12-03|website=worldabilitysport.org|language=en-GB}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Sports for the disabled]] {{stub}}