The 800 metres race has been on the Summer Paralympic Games program since the 1980 Summer Paralympics.
| Class | Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C7 | 1988 | Susan Moucha  United States | Norma Lorincz  Canada | Racquel Head Canada |
| C8 | 1988 | Maki Okada  Japan | Barbara Buchan United States | Annette Saeger  West Germany |
| Class | Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A6 | 1984 | Julia Scarlett  Great Britain | Christelle Donnez  France | Only two competitors |
| Class | Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20 | 2000 | Barbara Bieganowska  Poland | Arleta Meloch Poland | Trish Flavel  Australia |
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throwing, and discus throwing, followed by the stadion and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.
The 1976 Summer Paralympics, branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 3 to 11 August 1976, marking the first time a Paralympics was held in the Americas and in Canada. The games began three days after the close of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Christie Dawes is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racing athlete. She has won three medals in athletics at seven Paralympics from 1996 to 2021.
Marla Lee Runyan is an American track and field athlete, road runner and marathon runner who is legally blind. She is a three-time national champion in the women's 5000 metres. She is also an athlete that competed in both the Paralympics and the Olympics, both reaching the finals.
Wheelchair racing at the Summer Olympics featured as demonstration competitions at the multi-sport event, appearing within the Olympic athletics programme from 1984 to 2004. On each occasion two track races were held: a men's 1500 metres race and a women's 800 metres race. This was the first time events for disabled athletes have featured at the Summer Olympic Games, with the Paralympic Games being the traditional venue for top level para-athletics. The wheelchair races were the second Olympic exhibition event for disabled athletes, following on from the disabled skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics, held earlier that year.
Brad Scott is a Paralympian track and field athlete from Australia competing mainly in category T37 middle-distance events. He represented Australia at the three Paralympics – 2008 to 2016 in athletics and won two silver and one bronze medals.
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.
T36 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics. It includes people who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. It includes people with cerebral palsy. T36 is used by the International Paralympic Committee. This classification competes at the Paralympic Games.
Jake Lappin is an Australian para-athlete competing as a wheelchair racer. He represented Australia at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Rheed McCracken is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He named the 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year as part of the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he won three silver and three bronze medals.
Matthew Silcocks is an Australian athletics competitor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics. He finished sixth in the 1500m, in a time of 3:59.79.
Hannah Lucy Cockroft is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification and TV presenter.
Habitam Alemu Bayih is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres.
India competed at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona from 3 to 14 September 1992. The nation made its official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and has appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984. This was India's fifth appearance at the Summer Paralympics. India sent a contingent consisting of nine athletes for the Games and did not win any medal.
Halimah Nakaayi is a Ugandan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder for the 800 m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the 1000 metres.
William Stedman is a New Zealand para-athlete, competing in sprints, middle-distance running and long jump events.
Tomoki Suzuki is a Japanese wheelchair racer, who won the 2020 and 2024 Tokyo Marathons, came second at the 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023 Tokyo Marathons, and came third at the 2017 Tokyo, 2019 and 2023 London Marathons. Suzuki and won a bronze medal in the mixed 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and a bronze medal in the marathon T54 event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Ingrid Lauridsen is a Danish TW3 classified wheelchair racer who competed in the Paralympic Games and the IPC Athletics World Championships. She won a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem and took six gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in New York and Stoke Mandeville. Lauridsen finished third in the women's 800 metres wheelchair event at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome. She took two gold medals and three bronze medals at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul and four silver medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. Lauridsen won three medals at the 1994 IPC Athletics World Championships in Berlin.
Nathan Maguire is a British wheelchair racer. He won multiple medals at both the 2018 and 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships, and also won the 400 metres mixed class race at multiple British Athletics Championships. Maguire competed in the 4 × 400 metres relay T53/T54 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and competed in the 400 metres T54, 800 metres T54 and mixed 4 × 100 metres relay events at the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics. He was part of the British team that won a silver medal in the 2020 Paralympic mixed 4 × 100 metres relay. He also competed for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and won the 1500 metres T54 event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
