1968 Summer Paralympics

III Paralympic Games
LocationTel Aviv, Israel[1]
Nations28
Athletes750
Events181 in 10 sports
Opening4 November
Closing13 November
Opened by
Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon
StadiumHebrew University Stadium
1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Paralympics (Hebrew: המשחקים הפאראלימפיים בקיץ 1968) were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), they were known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time.[2] The games were originally planned to be held alongside the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, but in 1966, the Mexican government decided against it due to difficulties.[3] The Israeli government offered to host the games in Tel Aviv, a suggestion that was accepted.

The opening ceremony took place in the Hebrew University stadium at the Givat Ram campus in Jerusalem and the games took place in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District, at the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled. The closing ceremony took place in the Tel Aviv Trade Center. Therefore, these games were the first in Paralympic history to not be held concurrently with the Olympic Games.

  1. ^ Although officially called the Tel Aviv Paralympics, the opening ceremony was conducted in Jerusalem and the games took place in Ramat Gan.
  2. ^ Summer Games Governance 1960 to 1992. International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  3. ^ "1968 Tel Aviv". insidethegames.biz. Dunsar Media Company. Retrieved 11 October 2015.