El deporte paralímpico en Chile: Resultados históricos de las participaciones en los Juegos Paralímpicos de Invierno y Verano

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to describe the evolution of the Paralympic movement and its connection with the national and international political scenario. The Summer Paralympic Games made their debut in 1960, while Chile first participated in 1992. On the other hand, the Winter Paralympic Games began in 1976, and Chile's first participation in this event occurred in 2002. A documentary analysis was conducted for the study, in which the official documents of the Chilean delegations were analyzed, along with the overall results obtained in the Paralympic Games. The documents provided information on the number of participating athletes of both genders, results and sports. This information was later grouped based on the presence or absence of medals and the type of medal obtained. It was further analyzed by type of disability and year of participation. Over the years, Chile experienced constant processes and changes in management, in addition to the enactment of laws, both national and international. The constant support received from various private and governmental organizations contributed to the gradual increase in paralympic athletes, which greatly facilitated the overall development of the Chilean Paralympic movement to its current state. This growth led to successful outcomes, such as Chile's 1st Paralympic medal in 2012, and the country has now achieved a total of 7 medals in 4 disciplines in Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, placing it in the 45th position in paralympic medal board.