TEHRAN – Iran’s National Paralympic Committee (NPC) will celebrate the National Paralympic Day on Sunday for the 15th time.

The National Paralympic Day was celebrated in Tehran in 2003 for the first time Iran’s NPC has marked the event every year since then. The NPC is getting ready to celebrate the Day for the 15th time to create more glorious memories for the children with disability.

The event plays an important role in discovering the new talents and became part of the national calendar in 2016 following a Presidential order.

The National Paralympic Day brings thousands of people with impairments across the country together to mark the event on Oct. 16. The video messages from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Presidents had been played in the previous editions. 

“Congratulation on Paralympic Day and I wish you the best for this event. Iran is a powerhouse country in Paralympic Movement. It’s very incredible to see what you’re doing in many different sports with so many good athletes,” Andrew Parsons said in a video message in 2019.

The attendees are able to experience a number of Para-sport activities and so many highly ranked officials have always joined the celebrations.

A total of 60,000 people took part at the Iran’s 11th National Paralympic Day in 2018, a year before Covid-19 outbreak began. And it was a milestone event.

The Iran’s NPC is taking the Paralympic Week very seriously and doing everything it can to hold the celebration in a splendid way.

The National Paralympic Week is a symbol of solidarity of those who desire endeavor, dynamism, health, and individual & development within society.  

Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, attended the celebration in 2014 and played table tennis and wheelchair basketball with the Iranian Para athletes.

He was joined by Tarek Souei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Paralympic Committee, in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

Para-sports, such as football, powerlifting, shooting, boccia and archery were also demonstrated by the Iranian athletes in the day.

The main goals of the NPC are to introduce the Paralympic Movement to Iranian society, contribute to the inclusion of people with disabilities, change attitudes towards people with disabilities and provide them with social opportunities.

The NPC has held the event at the Olympic and Paralympic Academy in the Iranian capital Tehran due to COVID-19 restrictions in the last two years.

Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa, President of Iran's NPC, has said they want to register it as an International Day.

“The National Paralympic Day can be an inspiring day for all people with disabilities. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the day has been held symbolically in the previous two years but we will hold the ceremony with more participants when COVID-19 lockdown ends,” he said in the previous edition.

Three-time archery champion Zahra Nemati, three-time gold medalist shooter Sareh Javanmardi and two-time gold medal winner sitting volleyballer Morteza Mehrzad have participated in the National Paralympic Day over the past years. Late Siamand Rahman, as the most powerful powerlifter in the world, was also attending the celebration and it shows that how important the Day is.

Iran has progressed in Paralympic sports and turned into a powerhouse nation in the recent editions.

In total, Iran has achieved 60 golds, 48 silvers and 45 bronzes since making its Paralympic debut at Seoul 1988.