The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.
Evan George O'Hanlon, is an Australian Paralympic athlete, who competes mainly in category T38 sprint events. He has won five gold medals at two Paralympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. He also represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a silver medal and a bronze medal respectively. In winning the bronze medal in the Men's 100m T38 at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, O'Hanlon became Australia's most successful male athlete with a disability. His bronze medal took him to 12 medals in five world championships – one more than four-time Paralympian Neil Fuller.
Bradley James Thomas, OAM, was an Australian Paralympic Athlete who competed in three Paralympic competitions between 1988 and 1996 in an athletic career that spanned 15 years. Thomas was born in Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania. Whilst competing at these Paralympic Games, Thomas received 4 Paralympic medals. He was in the T44 (classification) and F44 (classification) for his disability and competed in many events. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997 and also was inducted into the Tasmanian Hall of Fame in 2006. Thomas is currently working in Sydney as CEO of Prophecy International as well CEO of two wholly owned subsidiaries of Prophecy international, eMite and Snare Solutions.
Australia competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. It was Australia's 12th year of participation at the Paralympics. The team included 151 athletes. Australian competitors won 101 medals to finish fifth in the gold medal table and second on the total medal table. Australia competed in 12 sports and won medals in 8 sports. The Chef de Mission was Paul Bird. The Australian team was smaller than the Sydney Games due to a strict selection policy related to the athletes' potential to win a medal and the International Paralympic Committee's decision to remove events for athletes with an intellectual disability from the Games due to issues of cheating at the Sydney Games. This was due to a cheating scandal with the Spanish intellectually disabled basketball team in the 2000 Summer Paralympics where it was later discovered that only two players actually had intellectual disabilities. The IPC decision resulted in leading Australian athletes such as Siobhan Paton and Lisa Llorens not being able to defend their Paralympic titles. The 2000 summer paralympic games hosted in Sydney Australia proved to be a milestone for the Australian team as they finished first on the medal tally for the first time in history. In comparing Australia's 2000 Paralympic performance and their 2004 performance, it is suggested that having a home advantage might affect performance.
Australia sent a delegation to compete at the 1988 Winter Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which was held between 17–24 January 1988. This marked the nation's fourth appearance at the Winter Paralympics. The delegation sent a group of five alpine skiers as they wouldn't get a medal in these games.
Sam Harding is an Australian Paralympic athlete and paratriathlete. His classification is T12 and competed in 400m and the 800m events. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics in athletics and has been selected to compete in paratriathlon at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
Malaysia sent athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country qualified athletes in archery, cycling, sailing, wheelchair tennis, athletics and swimming. Dr Ang Kean Koo was the chef de mission of the Malaysian delegation.
Belgium competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
The Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, a team consisting of refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes, competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Its creation was announced on 5 August 2016.
Haiti sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 7 to 18 September 2016. The country's participation in Rio marked its third appearance at the quadrennial event and its delegation consisted of one shot put thrower Jean Indris Santerre, who qualified for the games by being issued a wild card from the International Paralympic Committee after being unable to qualify on merit. He was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Santerre did not start the final of the men's F57 shot put competition held at the Maracanã Stadium on 17 September for unknown reasons.
Nepal sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the fourth time the nation had taken part in a Paralympic Games following its first appearance at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Nepal was represented by two athletes in Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Bikram Rana and short-distance swimmer Laxmi Kunwar, who both qualified for the Paralympics by using wild card spots for their respective sports. Neither athlete advanced beyond the first round of their respective events as they both finished 17th overall in their competitions.
Cyprus sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the island country's eighth consecutive appearance in a Summer Paralympiad having made its debut at the 1988 Summer Paralympics. The Cypriot delegation to Rio de Janeiro consisted of two athletes: sprinter Antonis Aresti and short-distance swimmer Karolina Pelendritou. Aresti placed sixth overall in the men's 400 metres T47 event and Pelendritou came fourth in the 100 metres breaststroke SB13 competition after losing the bronze medal by 20 cm (7.9 in) in the final.
Antony "Tony" John Sainsbury OBE has been the chef de mission of the British Paralympic team at five Paralympic Games, and was the chef de mission of the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
Australia participated at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. It sent its largest away team - 179 athletes to a Summer Paralympics. Australia finished eighth on the gold medal table and sixth on the total medals table.
Athletes have competed as Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games for various reasons, including political transition, international sanctions, suspensions of National Paralympic Committees and compassion.
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.
Netherlands competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was their sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Paralympics since 1960.
Germany competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was their sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Paralympics since 1960.
The Philippines participated at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021 which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country qualified six athletes, but only three in two sports were able to compete due to three athletes testing positive for COVID-19. The delegation did not win any medal for the first time since the 2012 edition.
