Boccia is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – bottia. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical disabilities. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984, it became a Paralympic sport and as of 2020, 75 boccia national organizations have joined one or more of the international organizations. Boccia is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) and is one of two Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program.
Boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was held in the ExCeL from 2 September to 8 September, with a maximum of 104 athletes competing in seven events. There were four individual events, two pair events, and one team event.
Lynette Coleman was an Australian Paralympic boccia player, athlete and swimmer with cerebral palsy.
BC3 is a Paralympic boccia classification. The class is open to people with several different types of disabilities, including cerebral palsy. BC3 players have events open to them in boccia on the Paralympic Games program.
Grigorios Polychronidis is a Greek boccia player with a Paralympic boccia classification of BC3. His specific disability is Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
José Manuel Rodríguez Vázquez is a Spanish boccia player, who has represented the country internationally at the Paralympic Games. Vazquez won a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.
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.
Boccia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics was held in Riocentro, in the Barra district of Rio de Janeiro in September 2016, with a maximum of 104 athletes competing in seven events. The programme consisted of four individual events, two pairs events, and one team event, spread across four classifications.
South Korea competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Slovakia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Singapore competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Daniel Michel is an Australian boccia player. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He won the bronze medal in the Mixed B3 at the Tokyo Paralympics. He won two gold medals at the 2022 World Championships.
Boccia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. There were expected to be 116 qualification slots across seven mixed events: four individual events, two pairs events and one team event.
Spencer Cotie is an Australian boccia player. He represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Jamieson Leeson is an Australian boccia player. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She won a gold and silver medal at the 2022 World Championships.
Great Britain are competing at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France, from 28 August to 8 September 2024. This is Great Britain's seventeenth consecutive time competing at the Summer Paralympic Games since the first Games in 1960. UK Sport has set the team a target of winning between 100 and 140 medals at the event.
The women's individual BC3 boccia event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics will be contested between 29 August and 2 September 2024 at the South Paris Arena.
The mixed pairs BC3 boccia event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics will be contested between 2 and 4 September 2024 at the South Paris Arena. Since this event is a mixed event, both genders, male and female, compete in the event.
The men's individual BC3 boccia event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics will be contested between 29 August and 2 September 2024 at the South Paris Arena.
John Cronin is an Irish boccia player. He won a gold medal alongside Margaret Grant at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in the mixed pairs BC3 boccia event.
United Kingdom