Zambia participated for the first time at the Olympic Games under the current name in 1968, and has since taken part in every Summer Olympic Games with the exception of 1976. Previously, it competed as Northern Rhodesia in 1964 and under the banner of Rhodesia in 1960. Zambia has never sent athletes to compete in the Winter Olympic Games.
The United Arab Emirates started actively participating in the Paralympic community during the 1990s. They made their debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Since that time, they have won several Paralympic medals. The country had their debut on the international Paralympic stage at the 1990 Stoke Mandeville Games. Some of the country's Paralympic competitors are internationally ranked. The United Arab Emirates have competed at several other Paralympic events including the Arab Paralympic Games, Asian Paralympic Games, IWAS World Games, Stoke Mandeville Games, and World Semi-Olympic Championship. The United Arab Emirates Paralympic Committee is the national organisation, gaining its International Paralympic Committee recognition in 1995 and have subsequently made winning medals and hosting events a priority.
Costa Rica made its Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, sending just two representatives to compete in men's track and field. Absent in 1996, it returned in 2000, and has participated in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since then. Its delegations have always been small: a single athlete in track and field in 2000; a single swimmer in 2004; two table tennis players in 2008, a single athlete in track and field and a cyclist on 2012.
Senegal made its Paralympic Games début at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. The country sent just two athletes to compete in track and field. It returned in 2008, with the same combination.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, having become independent from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, made its Paralympic Games début at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, with merely two athletes competing in men's track and field. The country has competed in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since then, and made its Winter Paralympics début at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, with a single representative in alpine skiing.
Lango Sinkamba, born in 1968 or 1969, is a Zambian former athlete who specialised in the wheelchair marathon. As a wheelchair athlete, he represented Zambia on two occasions at the Paralympic Games, and was his country's first Paralympian. He subsequently became President of Zambia's National Paralympic Committee, and has been active in raising the profile of disabled sports in his country. He is also an Athlete Ambassador for the international humanitarian organisation Right to Play.
The National Paralympic Committee of Zambia (NPCZ) is a member of the International Paralympic Committee. It was set up in 2005, replacing the Zambia Sports Federation of the Disabled. Funded by the government, it aims to ensure the training of coaches for athletes with disabilities, to facilitate the forming of sports clubs, to organize disability games, to spot and train young athletes, and to enhance the latter's confidence. Its first president is former wheelchair marathon athlete and Paralympian Lango Sinkamba. Zambia is formally known as the Republic of Zambia and is located in south-central Africa.
Zambia competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. It was the country's second participation in the Paralympic Games. Wheelchair athlete Lango Sinkamba, who had competed in the 1996 Games, took part for the second time, entering the marathon. Visually impaired sprinter Nancy Kalaba, Zambia's only other representative, made her Paralympic début, in the 100m race. Neither of them won a medal.
Mauritius made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta. It was represented by two male competitors in track and field, Sarwan Custnea and Enrico Cytheree. Absent in 2000, Mauritius returned to the Paralympics in 2004 with two runners, one male and one female. The country again had two representatives in 2008: Souci, and male swimmer, Pascal Laperotine.
Nigeria made its Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. It sent a delegation of six male athletes to compete in track & field, powerlifting and table tennis.
The Seychelles made their Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, with just two representatives. Cyrl Charles competed in swimming, while Elvis Victor entered the shot put. Neither man won a medal, and the Seychelles have not competed at the Paralympics since.
Southern Rhodesia first participated as Rhodesia in the Olympic Games in 1928, when it sent two boxers to Amsterdam, both of whom were eliminated in their second bout. The dominion did not appear at the Games under a Rhodesian banner until 1960, when it sent a fourteen-athlete delegation as part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In Rome, two sailors, Alan David Butler and Christopher Bevan, finished fourth, which was Rhodesia's best result until it became Zimbabwe in 1980. Southern Rhodesia sent 29 competitors, including a field hockey team, to the 1964 Summer Games, which was its last Olympic appearance under the Rhodesian banner.
Brazil made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, sending representatives to compete in track and field, archery, swimming and wheelchair basketball. The country has competed in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since.
The Dominican Republic made its Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, with track and field athlete Rodolfo del Rosario as its sole representative. The country has competed in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, except 2000, but has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics. Dominican Republic delegations have never contained more than two competitors.
Myanmar has been a sporadic participant in the Paralympic Games. It first competed, as Burma, at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto, with a delegation in track and field and shooting. These athletes were fairly successful, Tin Ngwe becoming Burma's first Paralympic champion by winning the men's 100m sprint in the C1 category. Aung Than won silver in the same event, while Tin Win took bronze in the men's 100m in category C. Burma was absent from the 1980 Games, returning in 1984 to take part in volleyball and track and field. Tin Ngwe, in category A3, won gold in the men's high jump, and silver in the long jump, while Aung Gyi won silver and bronze, respectively, in those same two events. In both Burma's appearances in the Paralympics, it fielded all-male delegations.
Qatar made its Paralympic Games début at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, with a single representative in powerlifting. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but has never entered the Winter Paralympics. Qatar's delegations have only ever consisted in male athletes before 2016 Summer Paralympics, and have always been small, containing no more than three competitors. All Qatari athletes have competed in field events or in powerlifting.
East Timor first sent competitors to the Paralympic Games for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. The country at that time was not yet recognised as a sovereign state, and its athletes participated as "Individual Paralympic Athletes". There were only two: Alcino Pereira in track & field, in the men's 5,000m race ; and Mateus Lukas in men's powerlifting, in the up to 48 kg category. Pereira failed to complete his race, while Lukas lifted 105 kg, finishing 13th and last of the athletes who successfully lifted a weight in his category.
Latvia, following its independence from the Soviet Union, made its Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, with a delegation of two athletes in track and field. It then sent Supulnieks as its sole representative to the 1994 Winter Paralympics, for its Winter Games début. Latvia has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but missed the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games, appearing with a one-man delegation in 2006, before being absent again in 2010.
Portugal made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics, where it was represented solely by a men's team in wheelchair basketball. They were eliminated at the preliminary stage of the competition, with one victory and three defeats. Portugal was then absent from the Paralympic Games until the 1984 Summer Games, where its athletes won the country's first fourteen medals, including three gold in track and field and one in boccia. Portugal has competed at every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but -almost uniquely among Western European countries- has never taken part in the Winter Games.
Czechoslovakia made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, where it was one of just four Eastern Bloc nations competing. Czechoslovakia sent a delegation of nineteen athletes, who all competed in track and field, and won a single bronze medal in the shot put.
