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.
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.
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.
South Korea competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Belgium competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Daniel Michel is an Australian boccia player. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He won the bronze medal in the Mixed B3 at the Tokyo Paralympics.
The mixed pairs BC3 boccia event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics was contested from 10 September to 13 September at Sambodromo in Rio de Janeiro. 8 teams of competitors took part.
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 eight 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.
Spencer Cotie is an Australian boccia player. He represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Jamieson Leeson is an Australian boccia player. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
The mixed individual BC1 boccia event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics will be contested between 28 August and 1 September 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. This event is a mixed event; 19 male and female players from 13 nations will be competing.
The mixed team BC1/BC2 boccia event in the 2020 Summer Paralympics was played between 2 and 4 September 2021. 40 athletes from 10 nations, each team containing 4 athletes, participated in the competition.
The mixed individual BC3 boccia event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics is taking place between 28 August to 4 September at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo. 24 competitors took part.
The mixed pairs BC4 boccia event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics was contested between 2 and 4 September 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Since this event is a mixed event, both genders, male and female, competed in the event.
Anna Ntenta is a Greek boccia player with a Paralympic boccia classification of BC3. She won the bronze medal during the 2016 Summer Paralympics in BC3 mixed pairs along with Nikolaos Pananos and Grigorios Polychronidis and also a second bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in BC3 mixed pairs along with Grigorios Polychronidis and Anastasia Pyrgioti.
Evani Soares da Silva Calado is a Brazilian Paralympic boccia player. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, in bocce BC3 mixed doubles, with Antônio Leme and Evelyn de Oliveira.
Kirsten De Laender is a Belgian Paralympian. Her first Paralympics was London 2012, where she won a bronze medal in boccia for mixed pairs BC3. De Laender also competed in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
