Table Tennis at the Paralympic Games
Table tennis has been a part of the Paralympic Games program ever since the first Games in 1960 in Rome. Initially, the sport was played by athletes in wheelchairs. A standing event was first introduced for the 1976 Toronto Paralympics, then in Arnhem 1980 an event for athletes with an intellectual impairment was also included.
disabled table tennis playerFast forward until now, table tennis is the fourth largest Paralympic sport, with athletes from over 100 countries currently competing.
Athletes with physical and intellectual impairments can compete, however athletes with visual impairments cannot. There are both sitting (wheelchair) and standing events, and the sport is open to both men and women who can compete in individual, doubles and team events. Traditionally, matches are played in a best of five sets format, with a score of 11 points winning each set.
In terms of classifications, athletes are assessed on their functional ability and given a number between 1 and 10. Athletes with the same functional ability number will then compete against each other. There are 5 classes for those in wheelchairs, and 5 for those who are standing. There is also a classification for standing athletes with an intellectual impairment.
The tournaments follow a qualification round followed by knockout stages to determine the winners.
Trivia
- Poland's Natalia Partyka was the youngest Paralympian in table tennis history when she competed at Sydney 2000 aged just 11. Four years later in 2004 she became the youngest ever table tennis player to win a Paralympics gold medal.
- Only a few athletes have competed in both the Paralympic and Olympic games in table tennis: Natalia Partyka (Poland), Bruna Alexandre (Brazil), Melissa Tapper (Australia)
Related Pages
- List of sports at the Paralympics
- Table Tennis at the Olympics
- About Para Table Tennis
- Swish — a version of table tennis for blind athletes.
- List of Sports for Athletes with Disabilities
- More about the sport of table tennis
- Table Tennis player Profiles
- Complete list of sports
- Main Paralympics page
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