Before the Paralympics

Athletes with disabilities competed in the Olympics as far back as 1904, when US competitor George Eyser managed the incredible feat of winning six medals in a single day, including three golds, in the gymnastics... despite having a wooden leg. Eyser (pictured above centre, with team-mates) had lost his left leg after being run over by a train in his childhood.

Other pioneering disabled athletes include Hungarian right-arm amputee Károly Takács, who competed left-handed in shooting events in 1948 and 1952, and Danish equestrian Lis Hartel who won silver medals in dressage at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, despite being paralysed below the knees as a result of polio.