What was the original name of the Paralympic Games when they began in Rome in 1960?

The original name of the 1960 Paralympic Games was the Ninth International Stoke Mandeville Games.

The event was organized in Rome from 18 to 25 September 1960, shortly after the Olympic Games in the same city. It brought together athletes with spinal cord injuries for an international competition modeled on the Stoke Mandeville Games in England.

Although the term “Paralympic Games” became standard later, the Rome event is widely recognized as the first official Summer Paralympics. The title connected the competition to Stoke Mandeville, the British hospital and sporting center where Ludwig Guttmann’s rehabilitation competitions began.

A common mistake is to describe Rome 1960 as having used the modern name from the outset. The event’s original title was more directly tied to its Stoke Mandeville origins.