Stoke Mandeville Stadium

Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom. It is sited alongside Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Stoke Mandeville and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The stadium was officially opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in August 1969.

The stadium developed out of the Stoke Mandeville Games — the forerunner of the Paralympic Games — founded in 1948 by Ludwig Guttmann.^[1] He was a neurosurgeon at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital who recognised the value of exercise and competition in the rehabilition of ex-members of the British armed forces. By 1961 Guttmann had founded the British Sports Association for the Disabled (now named English Federation of Disability Sport, expanding the concept of organising sport for men, women and children with disabilities and developing Stoke Mandeville Stadium into an international centre of disabled sport.

When Sir Ludwig Guttmann died in 1980 the Stadium was renamed Ludwig Guttmann Sports Centre for the Disabled. In 2001, following a £10million refurbishment, it was again renamed as "Stoke Mandeville Stadium".

Stoke Mandeville Stadium is owned by WheelPower, the national organisation for wheelchair sport in the United Kingdom.

Facilities

Facilities include a 400-metre outdoor running track, Cazenove Sports Hall, a 25m six-lane swimming pool, tennis courts and an indoor bowls arena.

In addition the Stadium has its own "Olympic Village" accommodation for athletes and the Olympic Lodge Hotel and the Wolfson Conference Centre provide guest facilities.

Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education at the stadium provides specialist disability education and training for the sport and leisure sector.^[2]

1984 Summer Paralympics

Main article: 1984 Summer Paralympics

Stoke Mandeville Stadium was one of the two venues of the VII Paralympic Games, the last of the Summer Paralympics not held in the same venue as the Summer Olympic Games.

See also

• English Federation of Disability Sport
• IWAS World Games

References

1. ^ "Paralympics traces roots to Second World War", CBC, September 3, 2008
2. ^ Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education

Further reading

• Goodman, Susan (1986). Spirit of Stoke Mandeville: The Story of Sir Ludwig Guttmann. London: Collins. ISBN 0002173417. 
• Rogan, Matt (2010). Britain and the Olympic Games: Past, Present, Legacy. Matador. ISBN 9781848765757. 
• Scruton, Joan (1998). Stoke Mandeville: Road to the Paralympics. Aylesbury: The Peterhouse Press. ISBN 9780946312108. 
• Silver, John Russell (2003). History of the Treatment of Spinal Injuries. Springer. ISBN 9780306480324. 

External links

• Stoke Mandeville Stadium website
• WheelPower website

Coordinates: 51°47′59″N 0°48′08″W / 51.79965°N 0.80235°W / 51.79965; -0.80235