<Li> Ice sledge hockey </Li> <P> The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete . This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy . The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games . The Winter Paralympics are also hosted by the city that hosted the Winter Olympics . The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Winter Paralympics . Medals are awarded in each event: with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games started in 1904 . </P> <P> The Winter Paralympics began in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden . Those Games were the first Paralympics (Summer or Winter) that featured athletes other than wheelchair athletes . The Games have expanded and grown to be (along with the Summer Games) part of the largest international sporting event after the Olympic Games . Given their expansion, the need for a very specific classification system has arisen . This system has also given rise to controversy and opened the door for cheating . Winter Paralympians have also been convicted of steroid use and other forms of cheating unique to Paralympic athletes, which has tainted the integrity of the Games . </P> <P> The origins of the Winter Paralympics are similar to the Summer Paralympics . Injured soldiers returning from World War II sought sports as an avenue to healing . Organized by Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, sports competitions between British convalescent hospitals began in 1948 and continued until 1960 when a parallel Olympics was held in Rome after the 1960 Summer Olympics . Over 400 wheelchair athletes competed at the 1960 Paralympic Games, which became known as the first Paralympics . </P>

When was the first winter paralympic games held