| Boccia at the VII Paralympic Games | |
|---|---|
 Paralympic Boccia | |
Boccia at the 1984 Summer Paralympics consisted of five events.
At the 1984 Summer Paralympics, the first cerebral palsy only sports were added to the program with the inclusion of CP football and boccia. [1]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual C1 | Henrik Jorgensen  Denmark | Russell Cecchini  Canada | Terry Hudson  Great Britain |
| Men's individual C2 | Craig Clifton  United States | Gord Hamilton Canada | Mark Chard Great Britain |
| Women's individual C1 | Carol Johnson Great Britain | Candy Demarois United States | Debbie Willows Canada |
| Women's individual C2 | Nancy Anderson United States | Diane Wiscombe Great Britain | Jane Spitzley United States |
| Mixed team |  Portugal (POR)António Baltazar Maria Helena Martins António José Mateus |  Great Britain (GBR)Carol Johnson Alin Kerwin Paula Monzani |  United States (USA)Nancy Anderson Craig Clifton Candy Demarois |
Boccia is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – bottia. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical disabilities. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984, it became a Paralympic sport and as of 2020, 75 boccia national organizations have joined one or more of the international organizations. Boccia is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) and is one of only two Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program.
Portugal competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country participated with 35 competitors in seven sports.
Football 7-a-side at the 1984 Summer Paralympics consisted of two events for men.
Boccia has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since the 1984 Games in New York City and Stoke Mandeville. Five boccia events were held at those games, two for men, two for women, and one mixed event where men and women competed together. Since then, all boccia events at the Paralympics have been mixed. Athletes in this sport have cerebral palsy and are given a classification according to the extent of their disability. There were originally two classes, C1 and C2, with C1 corresponding to those with more severe impairment. In 1996 a "C1 with aid device" class was added, and in 2000 the system was changed to have four classes, BC1 through BC4.
Greece, the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games that hosted the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, did not compete in the Summer Paralympics until 1976 and in the Winter Paralympics until 2002, but since then the Greeks have taken part in every edition of both events. Although the Greek delegation traditionally enters first during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, this tradition does not apply to the Paralympics, where Greece enters within alphabetical order. The National Paralympic Committee for Greece is the Hellenic Paralympic Committee.
Hong Kong made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, and has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics. It has never participated in the Winter Paralympics.
Boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was held in the ExCeL from 2 September to 8 September, with a maximum of 104 athletes competing in seven events. There were four individual events, two pair events, and one team event.
Lynette ("Lyn") Coleman is an Australian Paralympic boccia player, athlete and swimmer with cerebral palsy.
BC1 is a Paralympic boccia classification. The class is open to people with several different types of disabilities, including cerebral palsy. BC1 players have events open to them in boccia on the Paralympic Games program.
BC2 is a Paralympic boccia classification. The class is open to people with several different types of disabilities, including cerebral palsy. BC2 players have events open to them in boccia on the Paralympic Games program.
BC3 is a Paralympic boccia classification. The class is open to people with several different types of disabilities, including cerebral palsy. BC3 players have events open to them in boccia on the Paralympic Games program.
BC4 is a Paralympic boccia classification.
Boccia classification is the classification system governing boccia, a sport designed specifically for people with disabilities. Classification is handled by Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association. There are four classifications for this sport. All four classes are eligible to compete at the Paralympic Games.
Verónica Pamiés Morera is a Spanish boccia player, who has represented the country internationally at the Paralympic Games.
Francisco Javier Beltrán Manero is a Spanish boccia player, who has represented the country internationally at the Paralympic Games.
José Manuel Prado Prado is a Spanish boccia player, who has represented the country internationally at the Paralympic Games.
José Manuel Rodríguez Vázquez is a Spanish boccia player, who has represented the country internationally at the Paralympic Games. Vazquez won a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.
Belgium competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Leung Yuk Wing is a Hong Kong boccia player. He competed for Hong Kong at the Summer Paralympics. He won two gold medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. He won a silver medal four years later at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He also competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, he won a gold medal. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the individual event and a silver medal in the pairs event.
Josh Vander Vies is a Canadian lawyer and former Paralympic athlete. He won a bronze medal for doubles boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London before retiring.
