| Boccia at the XIII Paralympic Games | |
|---|---|
 Paralympic Boccia | |
| Venue | Beijing National Convention Center |
| Dates | 7–12 September 2008 |
Boccia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics consisted of seven events. The competitions were held in the Beijing National Convention Center from September 7 to September 12.
Boccia players were given a classification depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows players to compete against others with a similar level of function. The boccia classifications were BC1 through BC4.
For each of the events below, medals were contested for one or more of the above classifications. All events were mixed, meaning that men and women competed together.
There were 88 athletes taking part in this sport.
Argentina (4)
Brazil (2)
Canada (7)
China (9)
Czech Republic (2)
Finland (3)
Great Britain (4)
Greece (3)
Hong Kong (6)
Hungary (2)
Ireland (4)
Japan (4)
New Zealand (7)
Norway (3)
Portugal (9)
Slovakia (2)
South Korea (4)
Spain (9)
Thailand (3)
United States (1)This ranking sorts countries by the number of gold medals earned by their players (in this context a country is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil (BRA) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| South Korea (KOR) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Portugal (POR) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Hong Kong (HKG) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (9 entries) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual BC1 | João Paulo Fernandes  Portugal | António Marques Portugal | Gabriel Shelly  Ireland |
| Individual BC2 | Hoi Ying Karen Kwok  Hong Kong | Nigel Murray  Great Britain | Manuel Ángel Martín  Spain |
| Individual BC3 | Park Keon-woo  South Korea | Grigorios Polychronidis  Greece | Jeong Ho-won South Korea |
| Individual BC4 | Dirceu Pinto Brazil | Leung Yuk Wing Hong Kong | Eliseu Santos Brazil |
| Team BC1-2 | Great Britain (GBR) Dan Bentley Nigel Murray Zoe Robinson David Smith | Portugal (POR) João Paulo Fernandes Fernando Ferreira Cristina Gonçalves António Marques | Spain (ESP) Francisco Javier Beltrán Pedro Cordero Manuel Ángel Martín José Vaquerizo |
| Pairs BC3 | South Korea (KOR) Jeong Ho-won Park Keon-woo Shin Bo-mee | Spain (ESP) Yolanda Martín Santiago Pesquera José Manuel Rodríguez Vazquez | Portugal (POR) Armando Costa Mário Peixoto Eunice Raimundo |
| Pairs BC4 | Brazil (BRA) Dirceu Pinto Eliseu Santos | Portugal (POR) Fernando Pereira Bruno Valentim | Czech Republic (CZE) Ladislav Kratina Radek Prochazka |
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 two Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program, although it is a Paralympic variant of bocce (boules).
Boccia at the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place in the Ano Liossia Olympic Hall in Athens. Contestants were categorised as follows:
Wheelchair tennis at the 2008 Summer Paralympics was held at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre from 8 September to 15 September.
The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, organized by the International Paralympic Committee. Medals are awarded in every event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that the Olympic Games started in 1904.
Boccia has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since the 1984 Games in New York City and Stoke Mandeville.
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.
Zoe Robinson is a British boccia player who won a gold medal in the Team BC1–2 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. She went on to win a bronze in the same event at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, UK.
Tom Leahy is a paralympic athlete from Ireland competing mainly in category BC2 Boccia events and F32 throwing events. Leahy competed in eight Paralympic Games. He won three Paralympic gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.
BC1 is a 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.
BC3 is a 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 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.
Grigorios Polychronidis is a Greek boccia player with a Paralympic boccia classification of BC3. His specific disability is Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
Boccia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics was held in Riocentro, in the Barra district of Rio de Janeiro in September 2016, with a maximum of 104 athletes competing in seven events. The programme consisted of four individual events, two pairs events, and one team event, spread across four classifications.
Boccia competitions at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto were held from August 8 to 11 at the Abilities Centre, in Whitby, Ontario. All Boccia competitions were mixed.
Boccia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. There were expected to be 116 qualification slots across seven mixed events: four individual events, two pairs events and one team event.
Qualification for boccia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics begin from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. There are seven mixed events where 82 quotas are gender free and 34 are for females to make a total of 116 athletes.
Thailand competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was the country's tenth appearance at the Paralympic Games.
Zhang Qi is a Chinese boccia player competing in the BC1 classification.
The mixed pairs BC4 boccia event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics will be contested between 2 and 4 September 2024 at the South Paris Arena. Since this event is a mixed event, both genders, male and female, compete in the event.
