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, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
Elizabeth Clegg, is a Scottish Paralympic sprinter and tandem track cyclist who has represented both Scotland and Great Britain at international events. She represented Great Britain in the T12 100m and 200m at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the T12 100m race. She won Gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in 100m T11 where she broke the world record and T11 200m, beating the previous Paralympic record in the process, thus making her a double Paralympic champion.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 with the exception of the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
Hamish Anderson MacDonald, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He was born in Melbourne and lives in Canberra. He has cerebral palsy. His achievements and advocacy have made him one of Australia's most respected Paralympians.
The 2024 Summer Paralympics, also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and branded as Paris 2024, is the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an upcoming international multi-sport parasports event governed by the International Paralympic Committee, to be held in Paris, France, from 28 August to 8 September 2024. These games mark the first time Paris will host the Paralympics in its history and the second time that France will host the Paralympic Games, as Tignes and Albertville jointly hosted the 1992 Winter Paralympics.
Yusra Mardini OLY is a Syrian former competition swimmer and refugee of the Syrian civil war. She was a member of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team (ROT) that competed under the Olympic flag at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On 27 April 2017, Mardini was appointed a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. She also competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR). She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023, alongside her sister, Sarah.
The Refugee Olympic Team is a group made up of independent Olympic participants who are refugees. In March 2016, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced the creation of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team, as a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world in order to raise global awareness of the scale of the migrant crisis in Europe. In September 2017, the IOC established the Olympic Refuge Foundation to supporting refugees over the long term.
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.
Ibrahim Al Hussein is a Syrian Paralympic swimmer who represented the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and resides in Greece. He competed in the S9 50 m and 100 m freestyle events and served as a flag bearer at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Parade of Nations. He is a co-recipient of the 2016 Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.
Para-athletics in Cameroon is one of several sports that people with disabilities participate in, in the country. Competitors in the sport have represented their country in international competitions. Development of sport has also taken place locally as a result of international support.
Powerlifting in Cameroon is one of several para-sports in Cameroon for people with physical disabilities. The sport is represented nationally at the University Games.
Conrat Frederic Atangana is a Paralympian from Cameroon who represented his country at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in powerlifting's men's -56 kg event.
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.
Alia Issa is one of the six refugees in the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics who competed at the delayed Tokyo Paralympics. Issa is based in Athens. She was the first woman parathlete to represent refugees when she competed in the club throw. The day before the opening ceremony it was decided that there would be two flag carriers and that they would be Issa and Abbas Karimi. Issa came eighth in the club throw.
Ileana Rodriguez is a Cuban-born American Paralympic swimmer and sports administrator. She led the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics as the Chef de Mission. She was to have been the IPC flag bearer but Abbas Karimi and Alia Issa were subsequently named as the two flag bearers.
The Refugee Paralympic Team, previously the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. The team consisted of six refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes who represent the estimated 82 million refugees in the world. The formation of the team and its six athletes was announced on 30 June 2021 in a joint statement by the IPC and UNHCR. The team had made its debut at the previous edition of the Paralympics that consisted of just two athletes. That team was considered coordinated and was referred to as "the first". The team was the first to enter the Japan National Stadium during the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
Mahama Refugee Camp is a refugee camp in Kirehe District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, near the Kagera River which is the border with Tanzania. In 2016, it had over 50,000 residents, making it the size of one of Rwanda's ten largest cities. In 2021, there were over 100,000 refugees in Rwanda and most of them were here. In 2023 the population was over 58,000 with the majority under the age of 18.
Parfait Hakizimana is a Burundian parataekwondo practitioner who currently resides in Rwanda. He represented the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the under 61 kg category.
A delegation representing Afghanistan competed 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 Afghan delegation consisted of two athletes; Zakia Khudadadi in taekwondo and Hossain Rasouli in para-athletics. The former became Afghanistan's first female Paralympian.
Individual Paralympic Athletes (2016)
