International Paralympic Committee

International Paralympic Committee

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is a special group that helps people with disabilities enjoy sports. It was started on September 22, 1989, in Düsseldorf, which was part of West Germany at the time. The IPC works to make the world more friendly for everyone, especially through sports.

The main job of the IPC is to help athletes with disabilities do their best in sports and to organize the Paralympic Games. It supports more than 200 groups from different countries. The IPC believes that sports for people with disabilities can help change how people think and make better rules for everyone.

The IPC has members from 185 National Paralympic Committees, 18 groups that manage different sports, three international groups for sports for people with disabilities, and five regional groups. The main office of the IPC is in Bonn, Germany.

The IPC was created to help organize the Paralympic Games and give the Paralympic Movement one voice. It started in 1982 and became the IPC in 1989. Today, the IPC has many member organizations and works for sports for athletes with disabilities.

The IPC has had three leaders. The first leader was Robert Steadward from Canada. He led from 1989 to 2001. After him, Philip Craven from the United Kingdom took over. He was a Paralympian and led until 2017. Then, Andrew Parsons from Brazil became the leader. He has been the leader since 2017.