Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB. Athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent either the UK or 'Team Ireland'. It has sent athletes to every Summer and Winter Games, since the start of the Olympics' modern era in 1896, including the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were boycotted by a number of other Western nations. From 1896 to 2020 inclusive, Great Britain & Northern Ireland has won 918 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 32 at the Winter Olympic Games. It is the only national team to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games, lying third globally in the winning of total medals, surpassed only by the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom; athletes from Northern Ireland, who may elect to hold Irish citizenship under the pre-1999 article 2 of the Irish constitution, are able to be selected to represent either Great Britain or Ireland at the Paralympics. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Paralympic competition.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012 as the host nation and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, alongside Australia, France and Greece, though Great Britain is the only one to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. London is the first city to host the Summer Olympics on three different occasions, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948. Soon, it will be joined by Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028 in hosting the Olympic Games for a third time. Team GB, organised by BOA, sent a total of 541 athletes, 279 men and 262 women, to the Games, and won automatic qualification places in all 26 sports.
Israel, participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 held in Rome, Italy. The 1960 Paralympics, now considered to have been the first Paralympic Games, were initially known as the ninth Stoke Mandeville Games, an event for athletes with disabilities founded in Great Britain in 1948.
Great Britain was one of twenty-eight nations to send athletes to the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished second in the medal table and won sixty-nine medals: twenty-nine gold, twenty silver and twenty bronze. Athletes from the whole United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, were able to compete for the team. Seventy-five British athletes took part in the Games; fifty-one men and twenty-four women.
Ireland was one of twenty-eight nations to send a delegation to compete at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished nineteenth in the medal table and won a total of nine medals; four silver and five bronze. Seven Irish athletes competed at the Games, five men and two women.
Great Britain sent a delegation to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Teams from the nation are referred to by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as Great Britain despite athletes from the whole of the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland, being eligible. They sent seventy two competitors, forty seven male and twenty five female. The team won fifty-two medals—sixteen gold, fifteen silver and twenty-one bronze—to finish third in the medal table behind West Germany and the United States. Philip Craven, the former President of the IPC, competed in athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball for Great Britain at these Games.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Terrance Bywater is a British wheelchair basketball player. He participated in the 2000 Summer Paralympics, where his team came in fourth place; in the 2004 Summer Paralympics, where he won a bronze medal and was the highest scorer for Great Britain; the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning another bronze medal; and the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where his team again came in fourth place.
Jon Pollock is a British wheelchair basketball player. He was selected to train with the British wheelchair basketball squad in 1993. Pollock has played at four Paralympic games: the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 and the 2008 Paralympics.
William John Bayley is a British professional Paralympic table tennis player, ranked world number 1. He is the 2016 Summer Paralympics Games gold medallist and the 2014 World Champion.
Paul Davies is a Welsh Paralympic table tennis player. Davies, who has played table tennis competitively since 1991, was selected for the 2012 Paralympic Games, and took the bronze medal in the men's individual class 1 event.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed, under the name Great Britain, at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places for which the team qualified were for six athletes in sailing events.
James Rawson is a British table tennis player who competed at every Summer Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2008, winning five medals. He has also competed at World Championships in Assen 1990,Taipei 2002 where he won Team silver with Neil Robinson and individual Bronze defeating Guertler from Germany
Aaron McKibbin is an English Paralympic table tennis player. McKibben represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and won a bronze medal in the Men's team – Class 6–8.
Samuel "Sam" Von Einem is an Australian Paralympic table tennis player. Von Einem has represented Australia in table tennis since 2011. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where he won silver medals in the Men's Class 11. At Rio Paralympics, he became Australia's first male table tennis medalist since Terry Biggs won gold in 1984.
Neil Robinson is a retired para table tennis player from the United Kingdom. He participated in seven consecutive Paralympic Games and won team titles with Scott Robertson and James Rawson in both world and European championships.
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 sixteen consecutive Summer Paralympics since 1960.
Paul Arif Karabardak is a Welsh para table tennis player who has competed in three Summer Paralympics.
