The Paralympics are games, held every two years, in which elite athletes with disabilities compete in various events. The Paralympics are held just after the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, in the same city.
When Paralympics was coined in the 1950s, it was a portmanteau of paraplegic, or "paralyzed below the waist," and Olympics. As the competition's popularity grew and its athletes had a wider range of disabilities, the word's meaning shifted. Now organizers cite the Greek para, "beside," as being a reference to the games happening alongside the regular Olympic Games. Today, thousands of Paralympians from around the world compete in hundreds of medal events in the Paralympics.