The Paralympics is a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
France competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 336 competitors, 211 men and 125 women, took part in 196 events in 28 sports.
Niger has sent athletes to all Summer Olympic Games held since 1964 except for 1976 and 1980. Only twice has the country won an Olympic medal: Issaka Daborg, who won a bronze medal in light welterweight boxing in 1972, and Abdoul Razak Issoufou, who won a silver medal in men's +80 kg taekwondo in 2016. No athletes from Niger have competed in any Winter Olympic Games.
Niger sent five athletes, their second largest contingent ever, equalling the most sports in which they have participated. to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It was Niger's 10th Olympics; their only medalist has been Issaka Dabore, in boxing, at the 1972 games.
Niger made its Paralympic Games début at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. It was represented by a single athlete, male sprinter Zoubeirou Issaka, who competed in the 100m race, in the T12 category for the nearly blind. His time of 13.90 was the slowest overall in the heats, ending his participation in the Games.
Serbia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This was the nation's third appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Indonesia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, having not competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the United States boycott.
Papua New Guinea participated in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from August 29 to September 9, 2012.
Niger with six athletes sent in five sports, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's eleventh appearance at the Olympics, having competed at every Summer Olympics since 1964 with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the African and the United States boycotts.
The men's light welterweight boxing competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held from 31 July to 11 August at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.
Meica Horsburg is an Australian goalball player. She began playing the sport in 2004, the same year she made her national team debut. After the national team took a three-year break, she was named the captain in 2010 and played in the Goalball World Championships. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in goalball, where she captained the side.
Nicole Esdaile is an Australian goalball player and is classified as a B2 competitor. She took up the sport in 1999, and made her national team debut in 2010. Subsequently, she has competed at the 2010 Goalball World Championships, 2011 IBSA Africa Oceania Goalball Regional Champions and 2011 IBSA Goalball World Cup. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in goalball.
Nazario Fiakaifonu is a Vanuatuan judoka who competed in the heavyweight division of Judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Zakari Gourouza is a Nigerien judoka from Dosso. He competes in the men's 60 kg category. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was defeated in the second round by Russian Arsen Galstyan, who would win gold in the event, having defeated Honduran Kenny Godoy in the first round. Zakari Gourouza was the first Nigerien athlete to compete in the 2012 London games.
Gwon Han-Na is a South Korean handball player for Seoul City and the South Korean national team. She competed for the South Korean team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Hamadou Djibo Issaka is a Nigerien athlete. A competitive swimmer, Djibo Issaka trained as a Men's single sculls rower for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London to take a development spot offered to the Nigerien federation by the International Olympic Committee.
Andreea Ștefania Chițu is a Romanian judoka who competes in the women's 52 kg category. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was defeated in the second round by Ilse Heylen, having beaten Soraya Haddad in the first round. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she beat Laura Gómez in her first match, before losing to Odette Giuffrida in the quarter finals. Because Giuffrida reached the final, Chițu entered the repechage. She was eliminated in the repechage by Érika Miranda.
Mirzahid Farmonov is a Uzbekistani judoka. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Men's 66 kg, but was defeated in the second round.
Spain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012.
The 2011–12 Australia women's national goalball team, known as the Belles, is a goalball team that played in two Paralympic qualifying competitions and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. The official announcement confirming the 2011–12 team was made in May 2012. The team included Jennifer Blow, Meica Christensen, Michelle Rzepecki, Nicole Esdaile, Rachel Henderson and Tyan Taylor. Most of the players, with the exception of Christensen, were relatively new. Their first competition was the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Goalball Games, with the top two teams qualifying for the Summer Paralympics. While Australia finished second in its pool, it ended the tournament in sixth place following a loss to Israel. Their second major competition was the ISBA Oceania-Africa Goalball Regional Championships, where they beat New Zealand in the semi-final, and again in the final, to qualify for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
