THEY are the second biggest event in the sporting world and they start tonight at Atlanta the Paralympics with the opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium, and the host the disabled Superman, Christopher Reeve.

For many, they represent the true Olympic ideal, the striving for one's personal best within the physical limits of the body.

Over 120 nations will be represented by 4,000 athletes with physical disabilities.

Some 1,000 coaches and team staff, 1,500 officials and 12,000 volunteers will participate.

The question now is can Atlanta, which packed 5,0 much emotion into the Olympic opening ceremony with the message of Martin Luther King and the torch bearing of Muhammad Ali put its life and soul into these games?

The signs so far are of a confused city not quite realising that a grand Olympic follow up is about to happen.

Workmen were clearing the surroundings of the Olympic Stadium of the boxed trees and foliage placed round it for the Olympics, while at the same time thousands of children were inside the stadium practising for tonight's ceremony.

Centennial Park is closed and looking like a vast demolition site as the show stands are taken down and the pieces carted away. Only a limited area will be reopened - tonight for the Paralympics, round the fountains. Meanwhile, in the Olympic Village, most of the telephone lines were removed until someone remembered another games was coming.

The Paralympics organisers have slated their Olympic counterparts for their failure to leave the main venues, such as the stadium, the aquatic centre and the Stone Mountain Park, in a clean condition.

Atlanta, even at this stage, is in a learning process. What the Paralympics title stands for is the Parallel Olympics - parallel to the Olympic Games and not to be confused with paraplegia.

Paraplegia, paralysis in both legs, is one of 24 medical definitions of disability on which the rules of the games are based.

The Paralympics started in 1960 in Rome, and the aim was to follow on and parallel the Olympic Games at the same host cities.

But somehow along the road the original ideal was lost and the venues became separated from those of the Olympics.

In 1980, Moscow declined to be host and Arnhem stepped in. There were problems in 1984, when the last American Olympics were held at Los Angeles, so New York and Stoke Mandeville shared the events.

It was the Koreans, endearingly, who put back the spirit into the event, restoring the appeal of the Paralympics and playing host to 3,500 competitors at Seoul in 1988.

The Koreans effort was magnificently followed up in Barcelona, when the people of Spain took the Paralympics to their hearts, seeing then as a marvellous way of continuing and deepening the Olympic celebrations. Over 1.3 million people came. That is the comparison Atlanta faces.

Although 17 sports will be represented at Atlanta, and two demonstration sports, some 600 golds will be up for competition against some 330 in the Olympics.

That is because disability sport is a competitive business - not to be patronised as just a pastime - with a highly developed "handicapping" so to speak - system in force to ensure that like competes against like. That can sometimes be confusing to the spectator, but it ensures there are clear and comprehensible records to aim at and that the events are real contests.

It also makes for the far higher number of medals to be won for given events.

To take swimming, as an example, there are 10 different disability grades, and three grades for blind or visually impaired swimmers.

On top of that, there are five added grades for breast stroke events and two for medley events. It also means that graded sports such as swimming and athletics count for many more medals than a sport like tennis which is wheelchair based.

The only fear that faces the Paralympians is the heat and humidity of Atlanta, and their difficulties will be inevitably greater than the Olympians.

Some competitors, because of their specific disabilities like spinal lesions, will find it difficult or impossible to perspire properly in the heat.

All competitors have been advised to take a litre of water an hour for at least a 12 hour period.