Paralympic movement is 'spirit in motion'

"Spirit in motion" is the motto of the paralympic movement. The Paralympic Games is a multi-sport event for athletes with physical and visual disabilities, including mobility issues, amputations, blindness and cerebral palsy.

The games are built on the concept of a small organized sports competition for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. The Paralympic Games became an official international event in 1960.

Governed by the International Paralympic Committee, or IPC, and the global governing body of the paralympic movement, the games are held every four years immediately after the summer and winter Olympic Games, using the same venues.

The paralympic movement is one of the fastest growing in international sports. The 2008 games in Beijing, China, drew more than 4,200 athletes from 148 countries.

Former New Orleanian David Grevemberg has been active in the paralympic movement for many years and has worked with the Paralympic Games, serving as sports director from 1999 to 2007, then as the executive director of sport and international federation relations at the IPC.

Grevemberg interned with the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colo., then worked for Disabled Sports USA in Maryland. After receiving a master's degree in sports management, he received an internship with the IPC and relocated to Bonn, Germany. In Bonn, he served with the Orthotic and Prosthetic Athlete Assistance Fund. He was a delegate for the International Olympic Academy in Greece and co-director of the Bulldog Wrestling Club in Maryland.

Grevemberg recently was appointed director of operations for the 20th Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014. The Commonwealth Games are world-class, multi-sports competitions that provide medal events for elite athletes with disabilities.

In the United States, the Paralympics Games has partnered with community organizations from across the country to create a network of paralympic sport clubs. These community-based programs are developed to involve young people and adults with physical and visual disabilities in sports and physical activity, regardless of their skill level....