The 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, retroactively designated as the 1960 Summer Paralympics, were the first international Paralympic Games, following on from the Stoke Mandeville Games of 1948 and 1952. They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. The term "Paralympic Games" was approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first in 1984, while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was formed in 1989.
The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games and also known as Paralympic Tokyo 1964, were the second Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, and were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics.
The 1972 Summer Paralympics, the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from 2 to 11 August 1972. The games ended 15 days before the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, also in West Germany.
The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, commonly known as the 1984 Summer Paralympics, were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injuries and the other at the Mitchel Athletic Complex and Hofstra University on Long Island, New York, United States for wheelchair and ambulatory athletes with cerebral palsy, amputees, and les autres [the others]. Stoke Mandeville had been the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games from 1948 onwards, seen as the precursors to the Paralympic Games, as the 9th International Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome in 1960 are now recognised as the first Summer Paralympics.
The 1984 Winter Paralympic Games were the third Winter Paralympics. They were held from 14 to 20 January 1984 in Innsbruck, Austria. They were the first Winter Games organized by the International Co-ordinating Committee (ICC), which was formed on 15 March 1982, in Leysin, Switzerland. These Games were accessible for all athletes with cerebral palsy. Three sports were contested: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and ice sledge speed racing. The most successful athlete was German alpine skier Reinhild Moeller, who won 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal. The Games, then known as the 3rd World Winter Games for the Disabled, were fully sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States, from July 28 to August 12. A total of 6,829 athletes from 140 nations participated in 221 events in 21 sports.
Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896. Germany has hosted three Olympic Games, in 1936 both the Winter and Summer Games, and the 1972 Summer Olympics. In addition, Germany had been selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics as well as the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which had to be cancelled due to World Wars. After these wars, Germany was banned from participating in the 1920, 1924 and 1948 Olympics.
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.
Below is an all-time medal table for all Paralympic Games from 1960 to 2024. The International Paralympic Committee does not publish all-time tables, and publishes unofficial tables only per single Games. This table was thus compiled by collating single entries from the IPC database. This medal table also includes medals won at the 1992 Summer Paralympics for Intellectually Disabled, held in Madrid, which also organized by the International Coordination Committee (ICC) and same Organizing Committee (COOB'92) that directed the 1992 Summer Paralympics held in Barcelona, however the results are not included in the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) database.
India first participated in the 1968 Summer Paralympics. The nation has appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984. The Paris 2024 Games marked India's 13th appearance at the Paralympics. The country has never participated in the Winter Paralympic Games.
The German Democratic Republic made its first and only Paralympic Games appearance at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City, where it entered four competitors in athletics.
The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Its athletes finished second to the host nation West Germany in the gold medal count and first in the overall medal count.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every summer and winter Paralympic Games.
Germany (GER) participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of nine athletes. The country, since 1949 officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was until 1990 also called West Germany while the separate East German Democratic Republic (GDR) existed, which was recognized by the IOC only after 1964. East German athletes, however, participated in the Paralympics for the first and last time in 1984. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, athletes from all of Germany compete simply as Germany (GER) again.
The Netherlands participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of five athletes. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics. It made its Winter Paralympics début in 1984, and has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Games, except 2006. The Netherlands was the host country of the 1980 Summer Paralympics, in Arnhem.
India competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. The team included twelve athletes - eleven men and one woman. Indian competitors won two medals at the Games, one gold and one bronze, to finish joint 53rd in the medal table.
India competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London from 29 August to 9 September 2012. 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 10th appearance at the Summer Paralympics. The Indian contingent consisted of ten athletes competing across four sports in the Paralympic Games. India won one silver medal in the competition.
Liechtenstein competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. 2 competitors from Liechtenstein won no medals and so did not place in the medal table. Athlete Iris Schaelder competed in the Women's Long Jump B1, having previously competed in the same event in 1984. Table Tennis player Peter Frommelt competed in the Men's Singles TT5 and reached the quarter-final where he lost to the silver medallist Thomas Schmitt.
West Germany competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. 188 competitors from West Germany won 193 medals including 76 gold, 65 silver and 52 bronze and finished 2nd in the medal table.
West Germany competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. 129 competitors from West Germany won 162 medals including 68 gold, 48 silver and 46 bronze and finished 3rd in the medal table.
East Germany (1984)