| Paralympic Games |
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| Main topics |
| Games |
| Regional games |
A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Paralympic Games.
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their respective Olympic Games, in the same host city.
As of September 2023, [update] there are 183 NPCs who are full members of the IPC. [1] [2] [3] Only NPCs in good standing may enter athletes in the Paralympic Games. Within countries, some NPCs serve as the national governing body for one or more sports, while others only act as the IPC member with responsibility for Paralympic Games.
There are five regional organizations: [2]
| Continent | Association | NPCs | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Africa | African Paralympic Committee | 49 |
America | Americas Paralympic Committee | 33 | |
Asia | Asian Paralympic Committee | 45 | |
Europe | European Paralympic Committee | 49 | |
Oceania | Oceania Paralympic Committee | 9 | |
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, have been held shortly after the corresponding Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The International Paralympic Committee is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.
The 1994 Winter Paralympics, the sixth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Lillehammer, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paralympic Winter Games were held in the same location as the Winter Olympics and with the first with the same Organizing Committee, a tradition that has continued through an agreement of cooperation between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Ice sledge hockey, which became an immediate crowd favorite, was added to the program.
The 2014 Winter Paralympics, the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), held in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 16 March 2014. 45 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) participated in the Games, which marked the first time Russia ever hosted the Paralympics. The Games featured 72 medal events in five sports, and saw the debut of snowboarding at the Winter Paralympics.
The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The Games marked the first time a Latin American and South American city hosted the event, the second Southern Hemisphere city and nation, the first one being the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosted the event. These Games saw the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic program: canoeing and the paratriathlon.
Cheating at the Paralympic Games has caused scandals that have significantly changed the way in which the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) manages the events.
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.
The Russian Olympic Committee was the National Olympic Committee representing Russia. Its president is Stanislav Pozdnyakov. On 12 October 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee.
The Russian Paralympic Committee is the National Paralympic Committee representing Russia.
Russia has competed at the Paralympic Games as different teams in its history. The nation competed as part of the Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer and Winter Games, while after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992. The nation competed for a first time as Russia at the 1994 Winter Paralympics, and after that participated in every summer and winter edition up until the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
The European Paralympic Committee (EPC) is an international non-for-profit organisation which serves a membership of 49 National Paralympic Committees and 9 European branches of disability. Based in Vienna, Austria, the EPC was founded in November 1991 as the IPC European Committee and was later registered as an independent entity in 1999.
Belarus made its Paralympic Games début at the 1994 Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer. It has participated in every subsequent edition of both the Summer and Winter Paralympics.
Ukraine made its Paralympic Games début at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, with thirty athletes competing in archery, track and field, powerlifting, swimming, and sitting volleyball. Vasyl Lishchynskyy won Ukraine's first Paralympic gold medal, in the shot put, and Ukrainians also won four silver medals and two bronze. Ukrainians had previously participated within the Soviet Union's delegation in 1988, and as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Ukraine, following its independence from the Soviet Union, missed out on the 1994 Winter Games, but made its Winter Paralympics début at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. Ukraine has competed at every edition of the Summer and Winter Games since then and have done so with remarkable success.
The 2022 Winter Paralympics, commonly known as Beijing 2022, were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
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.
Dmitry Nikolayevich Chernyshenko is a Russian businessman and politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Communications since 2020. Previously, he was the President of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee for the 2014 Winter Olympics which were held in Sochi, Russia.
The United Arab Emirates sent athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Russia was originally scheduled to compete during the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what would have been its sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Paralympics as an independent nation. Russia had qualified athletes in ten sports.
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.
The medal table of the 2022 Winter Paralympics ranks the participating National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) by the number of gold medals that are won by their athletes during the competition.
 Regional organizations of National Paralympic Committees | ||
|---|---|---|
| Africa |  | |
| Americas | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
