MALMO OPEN
THE EUROPEAN PARASPORT EVENT
Historical background
The very first Malmö Open was launched in 1977 with table tennis as the only represented sport. That year the tournament consisted of 25 participants. Kurt Linde, Robert Johansson, Sven Hansson and Göran Wilson were initiators of the first Malmö Open events and had at that time no idea which influence this event would become for the parasport in Sweden, Europe and big parts of the world.
The participants were few up to 1979. After this the chairman for the events at this time, Kurt Linde, expanded the number of sport events which markedly enlarged the interest. Soon there were more than 1000 participants and the number is constantly increasing.
The very first Malmö Open was launched in 1977 with table tennis as the only represented sport. That year the tournament consisted of 25 participants. Kurt Linde, Robert Johansson, Sven Hansson and Göran Wilson were initiators of the first Malmö Open events and had at that time no idea which influence this event would become for the parasport in Sweden, Europe and big parts of the world.
The participants were few up to 1979. After this the chairman for the events at this time, Kurt Linde, expanded the number of sport events which markedly enlarged the interest. Soon there were more than 1000 participants and the number is constantly increasing.
1986 it was 1235 participants in 7 different sport events.
1995 it was 1518 participants in 10 different sport events.
2002 it was 1730 participants in 13 different sport events.
2007 it was 2140 participants in 14 different sport events.
2010 it was 2224 participants in 12 different sport events.
2016 it was 2518 participants in 18 different sport events.
Aim of Malmö Open
Malmö Open aims to be the perfect debut tournament for rookies and youths as well as meeting the requirements as a nice and challenging event for experienced athletes. Most sports offers a selection of events for both non-licensed participation and classes restricted only for classified and licensed players. Therefore Malmö Open has become important for young athletes. The ambition for Malmö Open is to be a recruitment event welcoming clubs from all over the world to register participants.
Malmö Open – A multicultural event
This year we will send more than 1000 invites to clubs all over the world. We are constantly looking for new participants from other countries to expand the games. 23 different nations took part in MO:23.
FIFH MALMÖ
Föreningen Idrott För Handikappade, FIFH, is one of the biggest sports club for disabled in Europe. The club was founded in 1956 and today we consist of more than 900 members with more than 40 activities per week. Most of our activities are held in our own sports venue, FIFH-hallen.
CITY OF MALMÖ
Malmö Open would not be possible to arrange without the support from the city of Malmö. One of many important units to behold is the transportation service who make sure all participants are transported smoothly and with very good service from the official hotels to all the different sport venues.
PARASPORT SWEDEN
The Swedish Parasport Association and the Swedish Paralympic Committee (Parasport Sverige) is a sports association that organizes sports for people with disabilities, visual impairments and for people with intellectual disabilities in 15 different sports. The union also leads the work on Special Olympics, which is the breadth and exercise of persons with intellectual disabilities.
