The Paralympics is a word formed from the two words "parallel" and "Olympics",and while they are often in the shadow of their'older brother',the energy and excitement of the Paralympics is in everyway a parallel of the Olympic Games.

　　Many of the events held in the Paralympics are similar to those of the Olympics.For example, basketball,fencing,rugby and tennis are all played, but the athletes use wheelchairs.Football, judo,and cycling are events for athletes with visual impairment.

　　There are,however,a few events at the Paralympics which do not have a counterpart in the Olympic Games.Boccia (Boch-chee-yuh) is a sport played by people with cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities affecting their locomotor skills.At the start of the game, a small white leather ball, called a 'jack',is thrown onto the playing field.After this,teams or individuals take turns throwing balls (either red or blue) with the aim of getting them as close to the white ball as possible.Goalball is a sport for people with visual impairment or blindness.The sport is played in teams,and the field has two goals.The object of the sport is to roll a ball into the opponent's goal while the opposing team tries to block it with their bodies. Bells inside the ball tell the players where the ball is, and because of this, spectators must be completely quiet when watching a game.All players wear blindfolds,allowing those with some vision to compete alongside athletes with no vision.

　　Other events included in the Paralympics are variations on familiar sports. For example, a variation of volleyball,sitting volleyball,is played by locomotor-disabled athletes (for example,people who have lost one or both legs).In this game, players sit on the court rather than standing.

　　Paralympians are a more varied group than their Olympic counterparts.For one,the age range is much wider.The youngest Paralympian in 2004 was 11-year-old swimmer Qing Qingxu and the oldest was 66-year-old sailor David Williams.They are also varied in their abilities;they may be vision impaired or mobility impaired; they may have neurological illnesses that limit their physical abilities.On the whole,these athletes prefer to be called'athletes with disabilities' rather than 'disabled athletes' - they wish to focus more on the word 'athlete' than the word 'disabled'.These athletes wish to be viewed as 'having' disabilities rather than 'suffering from' or being 'afflicted by' them.Ten-time Paralympic gold medalist Caz Walton doesn't mind being called a "wheelchair-user", but she adds,"please don't call me wheelchair-bound or confined to a wheelchair.

　　The Paralympics have been a part of the Olympic Games since 1960,when just 400 athletes competed.In 2004,this number had risen to over 4,000,and even larger numbers are expected to compete in Beijing this summer and in London in 2012.

　“Paralympics”是由“parallel”和 “Olympics”这两个词组成的。但是它却一直处于奥运会这位老大哥的阴影之下，不过，它所带来的活力与激情却一点不输给奥运会。

　　残奥会的许多项目和奥运会的类似。比如说篮球，击剑，橄榄球和网球在两个奥运会中都有，只不过是运动员是坐在轮椅上比赛。足球，柔道和自行车等比赛则是为了那些有视觉障碍的运动员而设立的。

　　还有一些比赛是残奥会独有的。硬地滚球（Boch-chee-yuh）的参赛选手都是重度的脑瘫、严重肢体障碍的运动员。比赛开始的时候，先把一个皮革制的球扔到场地中央。比赛的最终目的是在规定的区域内，把自己的球尽量投近目标球（白色球），最接近目标球（白色球）的一方获胜。盲人门球运动是根据盲人视力障碍特点而专门设计的一项集体球类项目。球场上设置两个球门，比赛目的是把自己的球投入对方的球门，而另一方则需用身体阻挡来球。球内铃铛的声音会告诉运动员球的位置，因此场下观众在观看比赛时必须保持绝对的安静。所有的参赛选手必须戴上眼罩以保证不同程度的视觉障碍选手可以公平地竞争。

　　其他一些残奥会比赛项目也是奥运会项目的变化产物。比如，排球变化为坐式排球，参加比赛的都是有运动障碍的运动员（如单腿残疾或双腿残疾的）。比赛中参赛选手是坐在场地上而不是站着。

　　相比于奥运会，残奥会参赛运动员的参与范围更广。比如，年龄跨度更加宽广，2004年残奥会最年轻的运动员是年仅11岁的中国游泳选手许庆，而年龄最大的是66岁帆船老将大卫威廉姆斯（David Williams）。参赛选手的差别也很大，有些是有视觉障碍的，有些是有运动障碍的，或患有影响运动能力的神经疾病的。整体来说，这些运动员更愿意被人们称作“运动员中的残疾人”，而不是“残疾人中的运动员”。他们希望人们的目光更多的集中在“运动员”上而不是“残疾”上。他们希望自己被看作是只是带有残疾，而不是被残疾折磨和影响的人。十枚残奥会金牌获得者Caz Walton并不介意自己被人叫做“坐轮椅的人”，但是他补充道，“请不要叫我只能依靠轮椅的人”。

　　残奥会自从1960年开始成为奥运会比赛的一部分，那时只有400名运动员参加比赛。但是在2004年这个数字已经上升到4000多人，今年夏天的北京残奥会和2012年伦敦奥运会还会有更多的人参加。