Great Britain at the Paralympics

Great Britain at the
Paralympics
Great Britain at the; Paralympics
	Flag of the United Kingdom
IPC code	GBR
NPC	British Paralympic Association
Website	www.paralympics.org.uk
Medals; Ranked 2nd	Gold 670 Silver 635 Bronze 649 Total 1,954
Summer appearances
	1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;
Winter appearances
	1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1994; 1998; 2002; 2006; 2010; 2014; 2018; 2022;

The

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every summer and winter Paralympic Games

.

While the

IWAS World Games, a specific event for wheelchair and amputee athletes, the Paralympic Games evolved from its Stoke Mandeville Games roots to include a comprehensive range of disabilities. This legacy is commemorated before each Paralympic Games since 2012 with the lighting of a 'legacy flame' at Stoke Mandeville as part of the Paralympic torch event.^[1]

Great Britain has performed particularly well at the Summer Paralympic Games, consistently finishing among the top five in the medal tables - a marginally better performance than at the Olympics - reflecting the country's sustained connection to and deep support for the event. Britain has won three gold medals at the Winter Paralympics and 626 at the Summer Games. Combining these results, the British team is positioned in second place on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table.

Great Britain was the host of the first

Stoke Mandeville Games to coincide with London's hosting of the 1948 Summer Olympics, one of the co-host countries of the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, sharing the duties with New York to coincide with the United States hosting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and the sole host, for the first time, of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, in London

.

Although the country uses the name "Great Britain", athletes from Northern Ireland are entitled to compete as part of British delegations. Representatives of the devolved Northern Ireland government, however, have objected to the name, which they argue creates a perception that Northern Ireland is not part of the British Olympic team, and have called for the team to be renamed as Team UK.^[2]^[3]

Under the terms of a long-standing settlement between the

dual citizenship.^[4] Some athletes have represented both nations, and Bethany Firth

, a paralympic swimmer from Northern Ireland, has won gold medals for both nations.

Great Britain's most successful Paralympian is swimmer turned cyclist

British Paralympic Committee was only founded in 1989, after Kenny's retirement. Media in Britain consistently referred to the most decorated Paralympic athletes from that year, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dave Roberts and Sarah Storey as Britain's "greatest Paralympians", occasionally with the phrase "of the modern era", attached.^[6] The International Paralympic Committee, however, recognise all of Kenny's eighteen medals as Paralympic medals, and he remains Great Britain's most successful male Paralympian and the most successful British Paralympian in a single sport (Of her 16 gold medals, Storey won 11 in cycling and 5 in swimming).^[7]

Great Britain's first Paralympic gold was earned at the

Paralympic Flame during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.^[8]

Great Britain's first Winter Paralympic gold was earned at the Sochi 2014 Games by Kelly Gallagher and guide Charlotte Evans in the Women's super-G visually impaired.

Multiple athletes have won 4 medals at the Winter Paralympics for Great Britain, each in

Winter Paralympics is Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans, also in alpine skiing in 2014

.

Hosted Games

In 2012, Great Britain became the second nation, the other being the United States, to host the Summer Paralympic Games twice.

Games	Host city	Dates	Nations	Participants	Events
1984 Summer Paralympics	Stoke Mandeville	22 July – 1 August	41	1100	603
2012 Summer Paralympics	London	29 August – 9 September	164	4302	503

Medal tables

*Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games

Total		669	625	630	1924	2
Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1960 Rome	53	20	15	20	55	2
1964 Tokyo	39	18	23	20	61	2
1968 Tel Aviv	75	29	20	20	69	2
1972 Heidelberg	72	16	15	21	52	3
1976 Toronto	87	29	28	37	94	5
1980 Arnhem	96	47	32	21	100	5
1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	227	107	112	112	331	2
1988 Seoul	231	65	65	54	184	3
1992 Barcelona/Madrid	209	42	51	45	138	3
1996 Atlanta	248	39	42	41	122	4
2000 Sydney	215	41	43	47	131	2
2004 Athens	167	35	30	29	94	2
2008 Beijing	212	42	29	31	102	2
2012 London	288	34	43	43	120	3
2016 Rio de Janeiro	265	64	39	44	147	2
2020 Tokyo	227	41	38	45	124	2
2024 Paris	future event
2028 Los Angeles	future event
2032 Brisbane	future event

Medals by Winter Games

Total		3	14	23	40	26
Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1976 Örnsköldsvik	6	0	0	0	0	–
1980 Geilo	8	0	0	0	0	–
1984 Innsbruck	22	0	4	6	10	12
1988 Innsbruck	24	0	0	0	0	–
1992 Tignes-Albertville	15	0	1	4	5	15
1994 Lillehammer	23	0	0	5	5	21
1998 Nagano	21	0	0	0	0	–
2002 Salt Lake City	2	0	0	0	0	–
2006 Turin	20	0	1	0	1	17
2010 Vancouver	12	0	0	0	0	–
2014 Sochi	15	1	3	2	6	10
2018 PyeongChang	17	1	4	2	7	13
2022 Beijing	24	1	1	4	6	14
2026 Cortina d'Ampezzo	Future event

Great Britain has never topped the medal table at the Paralympic Games. Conversely, it has never finished lower than fifth, and has only finished below second once this century, when it finished third in its home games of 2012.

Summer Games medals by sport

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Swimming	225	257	230	712
Athletics	215	174	188	573
Cycling	50	30	16	96
Lawn Bowls	35	28	19	82
Equestrian	34	20	10	64
Table tennis	26	31	47	104
Archery	18	22	22	62
Wheelchair Fencing	11	12	26	49
Shooting	8	9	11	28
Snooker	8	4	6	18
Rowing	8	0	2	10
Paracanoeing	6	1	5	12
Boccia	5	5	3	13
Weightlifting	4	6	5	15
Judo	4	4	9	17
Powerlifting	4	4	9	17
Wheelchair tennis	3	7	6	16
Paratriathlon	2	3	2	7
Dartchery	1	1	1	3
Sailing	1	0	3	4
Wheelchair Rugby	1	0	0	1
Wheelchair Basketball	0	3	6	9
Badminton	0	1	1	2
Taekwondo	0	1	1	2
Volleyball	0	1	0	1
Football 7-a-side	0	0	3	3
Total	669	625	630	1924

(Last updated: 10 January 2024)

Medals by Winter Sport

Leading in that sport

Medals by sport
Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
Alpine skiing	3	9	15	27	17
Ice sledge speed racing	0	4	4	8	5
Wheelchair curling	0	1	1	2	4
Cross country skiing	0	0	2	2	25
Snowboarding	0	0	1	1	11
Total	3	14	23	40

Best results in non-medaling sports:

Summer
Sport	Rank	Athlete	Event & Year
Football 5-a-side	5th	Great Britain men's team	Men's tournament in 2008
Goalball	5th	Great Britain women's team	Women's tournament in 2000
Winter
Sport	Rank	Athlete	Event & Year
Biathlon	4th	Peter Young	Men's 7.5 km free B1 in 1998
Para ice hockey	4th	Great Britain mixed team	Mixed tournament in 1994

Multi medallists

Athletes in bold are still active

Summer Paralympics

Summer Paralympic multi medallists

Athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five medals.

No.	Athlete	Sport(s)	Years	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sarah Storey	Cycling	1992 – 2020	F	17	8	3	28
2	Mike Kenny	Swimming	1976 – 1988	M	16	2	0	18
3	Lee Pearson	Equestrian	2000 - 2020	M	14	2	1	17
4	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Athletics	1988 – 2000	F	11	4	1	16
5	David Roberts	Swimming	2000 – 2008	M	11	4	1	16
6	Isabel Newstead	Athletics Shooting Swimming	1984 - 2004	F	10	4	4	18
7	Carol Bryant	Athletics Table tennis Swimming Wheelchair fencing	1964 - 1976, 1988	F	10	2	5	17
8	Chris Holmes	Swimming	1988 - 2000	M	9	5	1	15
9	Robin Surgeoner	Swimming	1984 - 1988	M	9	0	0	9
10	Robert Matthews	Athletics	1984 - 2004	M	8	4	1	13
11	Jody Cundy	Swimming Cycling	1996 - 2020	M	8	3	1	12
12	Sophie Christiansen	Equestrian	2004 - 2016	F	8	1	1	10
13	Hannah Cockroft	Athletics	2012 - 2020	F	7	0	0	7
14	James Anderson	Swimming	1992 - 2012	M	6	9	2	17
15	Valerie Robertson	Archery Athletics Swimming Wheelchair fencing	1964 - 1976	F	6	4	2	12
16	Dick Thompson	Athletics Wheelchair basketball	1960 - 1968	M	6	3	6	15
17	Darren Kenny	Cycling	2004 - 2012	M	6	3	1	10
18	David Weir	Athletics	2004 - 2016	M	6	2	2	10
19	Janice Burton	Swimming	1984 - 1996	F	5	10	5	20^[9]
20	James Muirhead	Swimming	1976 - 1984	M	5	5	3	13
21	Noel Thatcher	Athletics	1984 - 2004	M	5	4	2	11
22	Barbara Anderson	Archery Swimming Table tennis	1960 - 1972	F	5	2	0	7
22	David Ellis	Swimming	1964 - 1972	M	5	2	0	7
23	Ellie Simmonds	Swimming	2008 - 2016	F	5	1	2	8
24	Anne Dunham	Equestrian	1996 - 2008	F	5	1	1	7
25	Colin Keay	Athletics	1984 - 1988	M	5	1	0	6
26	Michael Walker	Athletics	1988 - 1992	M	5	0	0	5
26	Natasha Baker	Equestrian	2012 - 2016	F	5	0	0	5
28	Margaret Maughan	Archery Dartchery Lawn bowls Swimming	1960 - 1980	F	4	2	0	6
28	Deborah Criddle	Equestrian	2004 - 2012	F	4	2	0	6
30	Caroline Innes	Athletics	1992 - 2000	F	4	1	0	5
31	James Crisp	Swimming	2000 - 2012	M	3	6	3	12
32	Margaret McEleny	Swimming	1992 - 2004	F	3	5	7	15
33	Jeanette Chippington	Swimming Paracanoe	1988 - 2004, 2016	F	3	4	6	13
34	Nigel Coultas	Athletics	1988 - 1992	M	3	4	0	7
35	Stephen Payton	Athletics	1996 - 2008	M	3	2	4	9
36	Giles Long	Swimming	1996 - 2004	M	3	2	2	7
37	Kadeena Cox	Cycling	2016 - 2020	F	3	1	1	5
38	Nicola Tustain	Equestrian	2000 - 2004	F	3	0	3	6
39	Kenny Churchill	Athletics	1992 - 2008	M	3	0	2	5
40	Peter Hull	Swimming	1988 - 1992	M	3	0	0	3
41	Martin Mansell	Swimming	1984 - 1988	M	2	5	1	8
42	Clare Cunningham	Triathlon	1992 - 1996, 2016	F	1	4	0	5

Multi medals at single Games

This is a list of British athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single Games. Ordered categorically by gold (then silver then bronze) medals earned, sports then year.

No.	Athlete	Sport	Year	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Pauline Foulds	Swimming	1960	F	5	0	0	5
1	Robin Surgeoner	Swimming	1984	M	5	0	0	5
3	Dick Thompson	Athletics	1960	M	4	0	1	7
3	Dick Thompson	Wheelchair basketball	1960	M	0	1	1	7
4	Darren Kenny	Cycling	2008	M	4	1	0	5
5	Michael Walker	Athletics	1988	M	4	0	0	4
	Barbara Anderson	Swimming	1960	F	3	0	0	4
	Barbara Anderson	Table tennis	1960	F	1	0	0	4
7	Janice Burton	Swimming	1992	F	3	4	0	7
8	James Crisp	Swimming	2000	M	3	2	2	7
9	Sarah Bailey	Swimming	1996	F	3	1	1	5
10	Nigel Coultas	Athletics	1988	M	3	1	0	4
10	Bethany Firth	Swimming	2016	F	3	1	0	4
12	Stephen Payton	Athletics	1996	M	3	0	1	4
13	Colin Keay	Athletics	1984	M	3	0	0	3
13	Peter Hull	Swimming	1992	M	3	0	0	3
15	Joanne Rout	Swimming	1988	F	2	3	0	5
16	Jeanette Chippington	Swimming	1996	F	2	1	2	5
17	Kadeena Cox	Athletics	2016	F	1	1	1	4
	Kadeena Cox	Cycling	2016	F	1	0	0	4
	Ellie Simmonds	Swimming	2012	F	2	1	1	4
18	Thelma Young	Swimming	1988	F	2	0	2	4
19	Nicola Tustain	Equestrian	2000	F	2	0	1	3

Multi medals at a single event

This is a list of British athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single event at the Summer Paralympics. Ordered categorically by medals earned, sports then gold medals earned.

No.	Athlete	Sport	Event	Years	Games	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sascha Kindred	Swimming	Men's 200m ind. medley	1996-2016	6	M	4	1	0	5
2	Tommy Taylor	Table tennis	Men's doubles	1960-1980	6	M	4	0	1	5
3	Anne Dunham	Equestrian	Team open	1996-2008	4	F	4	0	0	4
4	Stephen Miller	Athletics	Men's club throw F32/51	1996-2016	6	M	3	1	2	6
5	Kenny Churchill	Athletics	Men's javelin throw F36	1992-2004	4	M	3	0	1	4
6	Caroline Innes	Athletics	Women's 100m T36	1992-2000	3	F	2	1	0	3
7	Emma Brown	Powerlifting	Women's -82 kg	2000-2004	2	F	2	0	0	2
8	Bethany Firth^[10]	Swimming	Women's 100m backstroke S14	2016-2020	2	F	2	0	0	0

Most successful Paralympian in a sport

This is a list of British athletes who are the most successful Para-athletes in their sport at the Summer Paralympics. Ordered categorically by medals earned, sports then gold medals earned.

Athlete	Sport	Years	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Lee Pearson	Equestrian	2000-2020	M	14	2	1	17
Sarah Storey	Cycling	1996-2020	F	9	0	0	9
Michael Shelton	Snooker	1960-1976	M	3	1	1	5
Pamela Relph Laurence Whiteley Lauren Rowles	Rowing	2012-2020		2	0	0	2

Most appearances

This is a list of British athletes who have competed in four or more Summer Paralympics. Active athletes are in bold. Athletes who were aged under 15 years of age and over 40 years of age are in bold.

No.	Athlete	Sport(s)	Birth Year	Games Years	First/Last Age	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Deanna Coates	Shooting	1954	1984 - 2012 (8)	30 - 58	F	3	3	2	8
1	Sarah Storey	Swimming	1973	1992 - 2020 (8)	15 - 43	F	15	8	3	26
2	Isabel Newstead	Swimming	1955	1980 - 2004 (7)	25 - 49	F	10	4	4	18
	James Rawson	Table tennis	1965	1984 - 2008 (7)	19 - 43	M	5	1	2	8
	Anthony Peddle	Powerlifting	1971	1988 - 2012 (7)	17 - 41	M	1	0	2	3
5	Robert Matthews	Athletics	1961	1984 - 2004 (6)	23 - 51	M	8	4	1	13
	Jane Stidever	Swimming	1966	1984 - 2004 (6)	18 - 38	F	5	5	5	15
	James Anderson	Swimming	1963	1992 - 2012 (6)	29 - 49	M	6	9	2	17
	Jody Cundy	Swimming	1978	1996 - 2016 (6)	18 - 38	M	7	0	3	10
	Stephen Miller	Athletics	1980	1996 - 2016 (6)	16 - 36	M	3	1	2	6
10	Christopher Holmes	Swimming	1971	1988 - 2000 (4)	17 - 29	M	9	5	1	15
10	Stephen Brunt	Athletics	1960	1988 - 2000 (4)	18 - 40	M	2	1	0	3

Winter Paralympics

No.	Athlete	Sport(s)	Years	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Menna Fitzpatrick Guide: Jennifer Kehoe	Alpine Skiing	2018	F	1	2	1	4
2	Kelly Gallagher Guide: Charlotte Evans	Alpine Skiing	2010-2014	F	1	0	0	1
3	Jade Etherington Guide: Caroline Powell	Alpine Skiing	2014	F	0	3	1	4
4	Denise Smith	Ice Sledge Speed Racing	1984	F	0	3	0	3
5	Richard Burt	Alpine Skiing	1992-1994	M	0	1	3	4

References

^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games | About Us". paralympic.org. IPC. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
^ "No place for 'NI', says Olympic Team GB", Belfast Telegraph, 10 March 2011
^ "Minister urges BOA to change 'erroneous Team GB name'". BBC News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
^ "Full text of the constitution" (PDF). taoiseach.gov.ie. Department of the Taoiseach. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
^ "Mike Kenny (swimmer)". Paralympians' Club. Retrieved 29 August 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Sarah Storey Britain's greatest Paralympian of the modern era". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
^ "Meet Britain's other greatest Paralympian". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
^ Olympic Broadcasting Service, channel IPC1, Paralympics International Feed, "2012 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremonies", airdate 29 August 2012
^ Burton won 23 medals,, according to the British Paralympic Association, but three of them were in mixed relay events for which the IPC does not hold records.
^ Firth also won the same event in 2012 representing Ireland

[1] "London 2012 Paralympic Games | About Us". paralympic.org. IPC. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2020.

[2] "No place for 'NI', says Olympic Team GB", Belfast Telegraph, 10 March 2011

[3] "Minister urges BOA to change 'erroneous Team GB name'". BBC News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.

[4] "Full text of the constitution" (PDF). taoiseach.gov.ie. Department of the Taoiseach. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2010.

[PC-5] "Mike Kenny (swimmer)". Paralympians' Club. Retrieved 29 August 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] "Sarah Storey Britain's greatest Paralympian of the modern era". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2012.

[7] "Meet Britain's other greatest Paralympian". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 February 2012.

[OBS-IPC1-OC-8] Olympic Broadcasting Service, channel IPC1, Paralympics International Feed, "2012 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremonies", airdate 29 August 2012

[9] Burton won 23 medals,, according to the British Paralympic Association, but three of them were in mixed relay events for which the IPC does not hold records.

[10] Firth also won the same event in 2012 representing Ireland

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v t e Nations that have competed at the Paralympic Games
Africa	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Comoros Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Americas	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela Virgin Islands
Asia	Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Chinese Taipei Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Europe	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany East West Great Britain Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel¹ Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine
Oceania	Australia Winter Fiji New Zealand Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Vanuatu
Other	Independent Paralympic Participants Individual Paralympic Athletes Neutral Paralympic Athletes Refugee Paralympic Team RPC Unified Team
Historical	Czechoslovakia East Germany Rhodesia Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union Yugoslavia
¹ Israel has been a member of the European Paralympic Committee (EOC) since 1994.