Paralympic Games Trivia
Some interesting facts and figures from the Summer Paralympic Games.
- Although this is not trivia from the Paralympic Games, it is something closely related. In 1904 in St Louis, one of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made out of wood.
- The two time winner of the Olympic Marathon, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila became a paraplegic after a car accident in 1969. He was able to compete as an archer in the 1969 Stoke Mandeville Games. However, he never participated in the Paralympic Games, because the Ethiopian Archery team failed to arrive in Heidelberg for the 1972 Summer Paralympics.
- The first four Paralympic Games events were only open to wheelchair athletes. At the 1976 Paralympics blind and amputee athletes could compete, athletes with cerebral palsy were able to compete in 1980.
- South African distance swimmer Natalie Du Toit carried the flag at the 2008 Paralympics and Summer Olympics opening ceremony, making her the first athlete to carry a flag in both Olympics and Paralympics in a single year.
- Italian archer Paola Fantato was the first athlete to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year, when she took part in both Games at Atlanta in 1996. She came 54th in the women's individual competition in the Olympics, then took bronze in women's individual and gold in women's team at the Paralympics.
- Wheelchair racing on the athletics program as an exhibition event at the Summer Olympic Games in 1984. They continued to be part of the program until 2004. An exhibition event for disabled athletes - disabled skiing - was also included on the Winter Olympics program in 1984 and 1988.
- Dutch athlete Jeroen Straathof competed at the Summer and Winter Olympics and the Paralympics. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympics he competed as a pilot in the tandem with visually impaired Jan Mulder to win gold. At the Winter Olympics, he competed as a speed skater at the 1994 Games, and at the Summer Olympics he competed in cycling as part of the Dutch pursuit team at the 2004 Games.
- At the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games, Trischa Zorn achieved an incredible feat winning 10 gold medals in 10 events, setting 10 world records.
- The second athlete to win medals at both the Olympics and Paralympics is British track cyclist Craig MacLean who won an Olympic silver medal in the team sprint at the 2000 Olympic Games, and was also the sighted pilot for Anthony Kappes in the 2012 Paralympic Games. In 2012 it was the first time that sighted guides of blind athletes were also awarded medals.
- Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyke became the youngest ever Paralympian when she participated in the 2000 games at age 11. Four years later in 2004 she became the youngest ever table tennis player to win a Paralympics gold medal.
- The only recorded death in competition during the Paralympics was Bahman Golbarnezhad, a 48 year-old Iranian cyclist at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He died of cardiac arrest following crash.
- The first four Para athletes to cross the line in the 1,500m final for visually-impaired athletes at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, all beat the time set in the 1,500m final at the Olympic Games held a month earlier.
- There are two Summer Paralympic disciplines that don't have Olympic counterparts: boccia and goalball.
Related Pages
- Summer Paralympics Firsts
- Winter Paralympics Trivia
- Paralympics Quiz — how well do you know your Paralympics trivia?
- Athletes who have competed in both the Paralympics & Olympic Games
- Summer Olympic Games Trivia
- Winter Olympic Games Trivia
- More Sports Trivia
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