Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition for the World War II veterans with spinal injuries in the UK in 1948, the same year when the London Olympics were held. He wanted to use sports as part of the athletic therapy for his patients. Over the next decade, his care plan was adopted by many other spinal injury units. And the competition grew. In 1960, the Olympics were held in Rome, and Guttmann brought 400 wheelchair athletes to the Olympic city to compete. The modern Paralympics were born. Since then, the Paralympics have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games and the host city of the Olympic Games is obliged to also host the Paralympics. Today the Paralympics are elite sports events for athletes from six different disability groups. They emphasize, however, the participants' athletic achievements rather than their individual disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in the Paralympics has increased from 400 in 1960 to over 4,000 in 2012.