The Olympic Games is a modern international revival of athletic and sports contests on the model of an ancient games. In 1996, on the 100th anniversary of the revival, Atlanta was given the honour of hosting the XXVI Olympic Games. After 108 years, the Games return to their birthplace as Athens will once again be the hosts of the Olympic Games in 2004. The concept of the Paralympics, to honour war veterans suffering from spinal injuries, was the brainchild of neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman, who set up a Spinal Injury Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. The first Stoke Mandeville...