The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympics which wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h (18.6 mph) or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.
Para-athletics is the sport of athletics practised by people with a disability as a parasport. The athletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, with two major exceptions in wheelchair racing and the club throw, which are specific to the division. The sport is known by various names, including disability athletics, disabled track and field and Paralympic athletics. Top-level competitors may be called elite athletes with disability.
Athletics has been contested at every Summer Paralympics since the first games in 1960. Men and women from all disability groups compete in the sport.
Malta competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China from 6 to 17 September 2008. This was the island nation's seventh appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games since their debut in 1960, but their first since the 1984 Summer Paralympics 24 years earlier. Antonio Flores, a runner, was the only athlete to represent Malta at the Games, having qualified via the 2008 British Open Athletics Championships. At the Paralympics, Flores did not qualify for the final of the men's 100 metres T44 event after placing 11th overall in the competition and fifth in his heat during the heat stages; the fastest four participants in his heat advanced to the final.
The 2010 Asian Para Games, also known as the First Asian Para Games, was a parallel sport event for Asian athletes with a disability held in Guangzhou, China. Two weeks after the conclusion of the 16th Asian Games, It opened on December 12 and closed on December 19, 2010.
Qatar participated in the 2010 Asian Para Games, the first multi-sport event for athletes with a physical disability to run parallel to an edition of the Asian Games. It was held two weeks after the conclusion of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, from 13 to 19 December 2010.
Para-athletics classification is a system to determine which athletes with disabilities may compete against each other in para-athletics events. Classification is intended to group together athletes with similar levels of physical ability to allow fair competition. Classification was created and is managed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which is regularly published via its IPC Athletics Classification Handbook. People with physical, vision and intellectual disabilities are eligible to compete in this sport at the Summer Paralympics. The classification for this sport was created during the 1940s and for much of its early history was a medical condition based classification system. The classification system has subsequently become a functional mobility based one, and is moving towards an evidence-based classification system.
Thailand competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
South Korea competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Switzerland competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Romania competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Singapore competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Rwanda competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Bosnia and Herzegovina competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016
The Republic of the Congo competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country made its debut appearance in the Paralympics at Rio, though they had participated in eleven Summer Olympics prior to the opening of the 2016 Paralympics. They sent a single competitor, track and field athlete Bardy Bouesso. Bouesso was the flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the Virgin Islands' second time competing at a Summer Paralympic Games. They were represented by one athlete, Ivan Espinosa, who contested one event, the men's 1500 meters T37. In that event, he came in 8th place.
Pakistan competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 7 to 18 September 2016. The country's participation in Rio marked its seventh appearance in the quadrennial event. The delegation consisted of the long jump competitor Haider Ali who qualified for the Games by meeting the required standards for the men's long jump T37 in a March 2016 event held in Dubai. On 13 September, he won Pakistan's second Paralympic medal with a mark of 6.28 metres in his event, placing him third.
Serbia competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021.
China (CHN)
Iran (IRI)
Thailand (THA)
Japan (JPN)
Iraq (IRQ)
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
South Korea (KOR)
Pakistan (PAK)
Jordan (JOR)
India (IND)
Malaysia (MAS)
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Bahrain (BRN)
Uzbekistan (UZB)
Sri Lanka (SRI)
Palestine (PLE)
Vietnam (VIE)
Brunei (BRU)
Chinese Taipei (TPE)
Hong Kong (HKG)
Philippines (PHI)
Syria (SYR)
Kuwait (KUW)
Indonesia (INA)
Kazakhstan (KAZ)
Mongolia (MGL)
Qatar (QAT)
