“The World Congress on Sports Medicine has been a real success, with a very good and well attended symposium on Paralympic athletes.”

The XXXII World Congress on Sports Medicine, organized by the International Sports Medicine Federation (FIMS), came to a close on Sunday, 30 September, in Rome, Italy, after four days of symposia, sessions and discussion around the theme “Sports Medicine, the challenge for global health: Quo Vadis?”.

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Medical & Scientific Director Dr. Peter Van de Vliet was amongst the more than 2,800 experts on sports medicine that met in the Italian capital and chaired the symposium on “Paralympic athletes and adapted physical activity”. The symposium dealt with autonomic dysreflexia and boosting, the impact of sildenafil on exercise capacity in spinal cord injured athletes, Paralympic performance in extreme conditions, and medical services and medical care for Paralympic athletes.

A highlight of the congress was an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Castell Gandolfo on Thursday, where the Holy Father welcomed the members of the FIMS Executive Committee and the Italian Sports Medicine Federation. He made a plea for the true moral values in sport as reflected by the performances of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in London.

“The World Congress on Sports Medicine has been a real success, with a very good and well attended symposium on Paralympic athletes,” said Van de Vliet.

“This symposium was an example of the implementation of the agreement between FIMS and the IPC, and we are pleased that the organizers of Quebec 2014 and Istanbul 2016 will also include Paralympic specific thematic sessions. This proves to me that there is a real growing interest for Paralympic sport also within the sports medicine community.”

The next World Congress on Sports Medicine will be held in Quebec, Canada, from 18-21 June 2014.