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Summer Paralympic Games Sports

Athletes compete in up to 22 Sports at the Summer Paralympics (and six at the Winter Paralympics), as listed below. As part of many of the sports are several disciplines or events, with the number and kinds of events changing from one Paralympic Games to another. Some sports began as demonstration events.

Para Rowing was added to the program in 2008. Canoe and triathlon made their debut in Rio 2016. Badminton and taekwondo made their Paralympic debuts at the Tokyo 2021 Games, replacing sailing and 7-a-side football.

Goalball, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball have men's and women's events, wheelchair rugby is a mixed event, while the football event is only open to male competitors.



The current list of summer Paralympic sports (as for Tokyo 2021)

  1. Archery (since 1960)
  2. Athletics (since 1960)
  3. Boccia (since 1984)
  4. Cycling: Track & Road cycling (since 1984)
  5. Equestrian (since 1996)
  6. Football 5-a-Side (since 2004) - for vision imparied
  7. Goalball (since 1980)
  8. Judo (since 1988)
  9. Para-Badminton (since 2021)
  10. Paracanoe (since 2016)
  11. Paratriathlon (since 2016)
  12. Para-Taekwondo (since 2021)
  13. Powerlifting (since 1984)
  14. Rowing (since 2008)
  15. Shooting (since 1976)
  16. Sitting Volleyball (since 1976)
  17. Swimming (since 1960)
  18. Table tennis (since 1960)
  19. Wheelchair Basketball (since 1960)
  20. Wheelchair Fencing (since 1960)
  21. Wheelchair Rugby (since 2000)
  22. Wheelchair Tennis (since 1992)
a goalball game a goalball game for blind athletes

Discontinued Summer Paralympic Sports

Here are just some of the sports and events that has previously been part of the Paralympic Games. See more of these plus a discussion about discontinued sports and events.

Demonstration Paralympic Sports

Here are some of the sports and events that have been part of the Paralympic Games as demonstration sports. See more of these plus a discussion about discontinued sports and events.

Sports aiming to be included in future Paralympics

Eight sports have applied for inclusion on the program for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Three sport disciplines from sporting federations with sports that already feature on the Paralympic program have also put forward applications for new disciplines.

Other sports which have been considered for the Paralympics at other times

Notes:

In 2010, para-badminton, intellectually impaired basketball, para-golf, powerchair football and para-taekwondo all applied to be part of the Rio 2016 Paralympic sports program but were unsuccessful. The successful sports were para-canoe and para-triathlon.



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Paralympics Extra

The next Summer Paralympics will be in Paris 2024, followed by the 2026 Winter Paralympics. Also, check out the list of Paralympic sports, and top medal winners.

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.

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