ABOUT THE AMERICAS PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE

The Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) is the heart of the Paralympic Movement across the Americas and leads the planning and execution of its flagship event, the Parapan American Games, one year before the Paralympic Games.

The APC was established in August 1997 when Xavier Gonzalez and Carol Mushett called for a summit of the region in Atlanta, USA, and José Luis Campo was elected founding President.

In the beginning, most of the countries did not have a National Paralympic Committee (NPC), and the majority of the members of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) from the Americas Region were federations for vision impaired, wheelchair athletes or the government.

But from then on, the APC has been growing continuously with very clear purposes and goals to achieve, working closely with its members while looking to build for more inclusive societies for people with impairment across the Americas through the support, promotion and development of Para sports.

The first Parapan American Games were held in Mexico City in 1999, with 1,000 athletes from 18 countries competing. They have taken place every four years ever since, with growing numbers of participant athletes and countries.

With over 1,800 athletes from 30 countries competing across 17 Para sports, the record-breaking Lima 2019 Parapan American Games are set to become the biggest in history.