Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom; athletes from Northern Ireland, who may elect to hold Irish citizenship under the pre-1999 article 2 of the Irish constitution, are able to be selected to represent either Great Britain or Ireland at the Paralympics. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Paralympic competition.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 with the exception of the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
Margaret Gardner Maughan was a British competitive archer, dartcher and lawn bowler. She was Britain's first gold medallist at the Paralympic Games, and won four gold and two silver medals at the Games. She lit the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium in London at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Kenya made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany. The country sent four representatives to compete in archery, athletics, snooker and swimming. 1968 Great Britain Paralympic medalist John Britton who had migrated to Kenya and was representing the country at the 1972 Games won the country's first Paralympic medal, a gold in the men's 25 meter freestyle class 2 event in a world record time of 19.9 seconds.
Finland competed at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto. The country was represented by 50 athletes competing in archery, athletics, dartchery, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wheelchair basketball.
The 21st International Stoke Mandeville Games, later known as the 1972 Summer Paralympics was an international multi-sport event held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11, 1972, in which athletes with physical disabilities competed against one another. The German Disabled Sports Association planned to stage the Games in Munich following the 1972 Olympic Games, however the Olympic village in Munich was designated to be closed and converted into private apartments. The organisers tried to arrange for alternative accommodation for the athletes but when this was not possible the city of Heidelberg stepped in with an invite to stage the Games at the University of Heidelberg's Institute for Physical Training.
Roberto Marson was an Italian multisport athlete who competed at the Summer Paralympics on four occasions and won a total of 26 Paralympic medals. He lost the use of his legs when a pine tree he was chopping down fell on his back.
Israel, participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 held in Rome, Italy. The 1960 Paralympics, now considered to have been the first Paralympic Games, were initially known as the ninth Stoke Mandeville Games, an event for athletes with disabilities founded in Great Britain in 1948.
Israel was the host nation of the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv. The Israeli team finished third in the medal table and won sixty-two medals: eighteen gold, twenty-one silver and twenty-three bronze. Over 750 athletes from 28 nations took part in the Games; the Israeli team included 53 athletes, 37 men and 15 women.
Ireland was one of twenty-eight nations to send a delegation to compete at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished nineteenth in the medal table and won a total of nine medals; four silver and five bronze. Seven Irish athletes competed at the Games, five men and two women.
Rhodesia competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from 4 to 13 November 1968. The team ranked eleventh out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the medal table and won a total of twenty medals; six gold, seven silver and seven bronze. Rhodesia competed at the Paralympics in 1968 and in 1972 despite being excluded from the Summer Olympic Games in those years.
Argentina sent a team to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. They sent twenty one competitors, twelve male and nine female. The team finished twentieth in the medal table and won nine medals, two gold, four silver and three bronze.
Australia sent a team to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Australian won 25 medals - 6 gold, 9 silver, and 10 bronze medals in six sports. Australia finished 11th on the gold medal table and 9th on the total medal table.
South Africa sent a team to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from 2 to 11 August. They sent twenty five competitors, twelve male and thirteen female. The team won forty-one medals—sixteen gold, twelve silver and thirteen bronze—and finished fourth in the medal table.
Australia has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since the inception of the Paralympics in the year 1960. The 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto was Australia's fifth Paralympic Games. Australia competed in 10 out of the 13 sports and were able to win medals in six of these sports. There were 44 athletes representing Australia at the Games with a number of these athletes participating in multiple sports. Of the 44 athletes, 34 were males and 10 were females. As a team, Australia won 41 medals, 16 of which were gold. This placed it just outside the top 10 in 11th position at the end of the Games. The Australian team won more gold medals at the 1976 Paralympic Games than at any of the previous four Paralympic Games. 26 athletes finished on the podium in their respective events. This represents more than half the number of athletes that Australia sent to Toronto. Six world records were broken by Australian athletes on their way to winning their respective events.
Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. It was the 6th Summer Paralympic Games in which Australia had competed. These Games were the biggest Paralympics yet, with 1,973 people participating. Of those participants, 57 were Australian. The team was made up of 45 men and 12 women, and was Australia's largest team to compete at any Paralympic Games so far.
The 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, later known as the 1964 Summer Paralympics, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from November 3 to 12, 1964, in which paraplegic and tetraplegic athletes competed against one another. The Stoke Mandeville Games were a forerunner to the Paralympics first organized by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948. This medal table ranks the competing National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) by the number of gold medals won by their athletes.
Jane Blackburn is a retired athlete who competed in a number of sports at five Paralympic Games.
Great Britain competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place between 21 August and 6 September 2020, the Games were postponed to 24 August to 5 September 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. British athletes have competed at all sixteen consecutive Summer Paralympics since 1960.
