ABSTRACT
Without question, the sport of track and fi eld athletics is one of the leading sports of the modern Olympic Games. This is fi tting since track and fi eld pursuits take centre stage in the historical record of the ancient games held in Greece over two thousand years ago. When the Olympic Games were revived by Pierre de Coubertin at the end of the nineteenth century, athletics once again took centre stage (MacAloon, 1981). The fi rst Para-athletics competition was held in 1952 when wheelchair racing was part of the Stoke Mandeville Games which were organised for World War II veterans. It was one of eight sports included at the fi rst Paralympic Games in 1960 which were held in Rome, Italy (Tweedy & Howe, 2011).
