Wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics

Governing body	IWBF
Events	2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Medalists

Wheelchair basketball is a super exciting sport played at the Summer Paralympic Games. It has been a part of the Paralympics since the very first games in Rome in 1960. Winning a Paralympic medal is the biggest achievement for wheelchair basketball players around the world. After the Paralympics, the World Championships are also very important. These championships are organized by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) for both men and women.

Wheelchair Basketball Events at the Paralympics

At the first two Paralympic Games, there were two different men's events. These were called Class A and Class B. Since the 1968 Paralympic Games, there have been two main events: one for men's teams and one for women's teams.

Current Events

Men's team tournament
Women's team tournament

How Teams Qualify for the Paralympics

For the first few Paralympic Games (from 1960 to 1988), teams didn't need to qualify. They could just participate. However, since the 1992 Games, teams have to earn their spot. They qualify through special world championships and regional (zonal) tournaments. This makes sure only the best teams compete!

Paralympic Medal Winners

Many amazing athletes and teams have won medals in wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics. Here's a look at the teams that have won medals over the years.

Men's Team Medalists

Early Men's Classes (1960–1964)

In the early years, men's teams competed in Class A and Class B.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1960 Rome	United States	Great Britain	Israel
1964 Tokyo	United States	Great Britain	Israel

Men's Class B Medalists (1960–1964)

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1960 Rome	United States	Netherlands	Great Britain
1964 Tokyo	United States	Argentina	Israel

Men's Team Medalists (1968–Present)

Since 1968, there has been one main men's tournament.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1968 Tel Aviv	Israel	United States	Great Britain
1972 Heidelberg	United States	Israel	Argentina
1976 Toronto	United States	Israel	France
1980 Arnhem	Israel	Netherlands	United States
1984 Stoke Mandeville	France	Netherlands	Sweden
1988 Seoul	United States	Netherlands	France
1992 Barcelona	Netherlands	Germany	France
1996 Atlanta	Australia	Great Britain	United States
2000 Sydney	Canada	Netherlands	United States
2004 Athens	Canada	Australia	Great Britain
2008 Beijing	Australia	Canada	Great Britain
2012 London	Canada	Australia	United States
2016 Rio	United States	Spain	Great Britain
2020 Tokyo	United States	Japan	Great Britain
2024 Paris	United States	Great Britain	Germany

Women's Team Medalists

The women's tournament has been a highlight since 1968.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1968 Tel Aviv	Israel	Argentina	United States
1972 Heidelberg	Argentina	Jamaica	Israel
1976 Toronto	Israel	West Germany	Argentina
1980 Arnhem	West Germany	Israel	United States
1984 Stoke Mandeville	West Germany	Israel	Japan
1988 Seoul	United States	West Germany	Netherlands
1992 Barcelona	Canada	United States	Netherlands
1996 Atlanta	Canada	Netherlands	United States
2000 Sydney	Canada	Australia	Japan
2004 Athens	United States	Australia	Canada
2008 Beijing	United States	Germany	Australia
2012 London	Germany	Australia	Netherlands
2016 Rio	United States	Germany	Netherlands
2020 Tokyo	Netherlands	China	United States
2024 Paris	Netherlands	United States	China

Medal Counts by Country

These tables show which countries have won the most gold, silver, and bronze medals in wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics.

Men's Medals (1960–1964)

This table combines the medals from the early Class A and Class B men's events.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	4	0	0	4
2	Great Britain	0	2	1	3
3	Argentina	0	1	0	1
Netherlands	0	1	0	1
5	Israel	0	0	3	3
Totals (5 entries)	4	4	4	12

Men's Medals (1968–2024)

This table shows the medals won in the main men's tournament since 1968.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	6	1	4	11
2	Canada	3	1	0	4
3	Australia	2	2	0	4
Israel	2	2	0	4
5	Netherlands	1	4	0	5
6	France	1	0	3	4
7	Great Britain	0	2	5	7
8	Germany	0	1	1	2
9	Japan	0	1	0	1
Spain	0	1	0	1
11	Argentina	0	0	1	1
Sweden	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)	15	15	15	45

Women's Medals (1968–2024)

This table shows the medals won in the women's tournament since 1968.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	4	2	4	10
2	Germany	3	4	0	7
3	Canada	3	0	1	4
4	Israel	2	2	1	5
5	Netherlands	2	1	4	7
6	Argentina	1	1	1	3
7	Australia	0	3	1	4
8	China	0	1	1	2
9	Jamaica	0	1	0	1
10	Japan	0	0	2	2
Totals (10 entries)	15	15	15	45

Total Medals (1960–2024)

This table shows the total medals won by each country across all wheelchair basketball events at the Paralympics.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	14	3	8	25
2	Canada (CAN)	6	1	1	8
3	Israel (ISR)	4	4	4	12
4	Netherlands (NED)	3	6	4	13
5	Germany (GER)	3	5	1	9
6	Australia (AUS)	2	5	1	8
7	Argentina (ARG)	1	2	2	5
8	France (FRA)	1	0	3	4
9	Great Britain (GBR)	0	4	6	10
10	Japan (JPN)	0	1	2	3
11	China (CHN)	0	1	1	2
12	Jamaica (JAM)	0	1	0	1
Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
14	Sweden (SWE)	0	0	1	1
Totals (14 entries)	34	34	34	102

Participating Nations

Many countries have sent their wheelchair basketball teams to compete at the Paralympic Games.

Nations in Early Men's Events (1960–1964)

Men's Class A Participants

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
1960	USA	GBR	ISR	NED	AUT
1964	USA	GBR	ISR	FRA	BEL	PHI	JPN

Men's Class B Participants

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
1960	USA	NED	GBR	ARG	AUS	BEL	FRA	ITA	MLT	SUI
1964	USA	ARG	ISR	ITA	GBR	JPN

Nations in Modern Tournaments (1968–Present)

The number of teams competing has changed over the years.

1968: 13 Men's Teams
1972: 9 Men's Teams in Division I, 10 Men's Teams in Division II
1976: 21 Men's Teams
1980: 17 Men's Teams
1984: 18 Men's Teams
1988: 17 Men's Teams
1992: 12 Men's Teams
1996: 12 Men's Teams
2000: 12 Men's Teams
2004: 12 Men's Teams
2008: 12 Men's Teams
2012: 12 Men's Teams
2016: 12 Men's Teams
2020: 12 Men's Teams
2024: 8 Men's Teams

Men's Team Participants

Here are some of the countries that have participated in the men's tournament.

Years	Teams
1960	United States - United Kingdom - Israel - Netherlands
1964	United States - United Kingdom - Israel - Argentina
1968	United States - United Kingdom - West Germany - Switzerland - Israel - France - Netherlands - Belgium - Canada - Sweden - Italy - Argentina - Australia
1972	Argentina - United Kingdom - Sweden - Netherlands - Italy - United States - Israel - France - Australia - Belgium - Spain - Canada - Portugal - Switzerland - West Germany - Brazil - Jamaica - Yugoslavia - Ireland
1976	Israel - Netherlands - Mexico - Italy - Colombia - France - Canada - Switzerland - Finland - South Africa - Argentina - United Kingdom - West Germany - Spain - Denmark - United States - Sweden - Belgium- Brazil - Japan - Australia
1980	United States - Japan - Spain - Australia - Italy - Israel - Argentina - Belgium - West Germany - Netherlands - Canada - Denmark - Brazil - France - Sweden - United Kingdom - Egypt
1984	Canada - United States - Italy - Switzerland - Finland - Israel - West Germany - Mexico - Spain - United Kingdom - France - Australia - Japan - Egypt - Sweden - Netherlands - Yugoslavia - Denmark
1988	United States - Sweden - United Kingdom - Brazil - France - West Germany - Australia- Argentina - Morocco - Netherlands - Israel - Spain - South Korea - Canada Japan - Belgium - Mexico
1992	Netherlands - France - Germany - Sweden - Australia - Israel - United States - United Kingdom - Canada - Spain - Japan - Argentina
1996	Spain - Australia - United Kingdom - Canada - Mexico - Argentina - United States - France - Netherlands - Japan - Sweden
2000	Canada - United States - United Kingdom - Germany - Mexico - South Africa - Netherlands - France - Australia - Sweden- Japan - South Korea
2004	Canada - Australia - Italy United Kingdom - Brazil - France - Netherlands - United States - Germany - Japan - Iran - Greece
2008	Canada - Germany - Iran - Japan - South Africa - Sweden - Australia - United Kingdom - United States - Israel - Brazil - China
2012	Australia - Canada - Colombia - Germany - United Kingdom - Italy - Japan - Spain - Poland - Turkey - United States - South Africa
2016	Spain - Turkey - Australia - Netherlands - Japan - Canada - United States - United Kingdom - Brazil - Germany - Iran - Algeria
2020

Women's Team Participants

Here are some of the countries that have participated in the women's tournament.

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
1972	ARG	JAM	ISR	GER	CAN	GBR	YUG
1976	ISR	GER	ARG	CAN	USA
1980	GER	ISR	USA	ARG
1984	GER	ISR	JPN	CAN	USA	NED
1988	USA	GER	NED	CAN	JPN	ISR	SWE	ARG	GBR
1992	CAN	USA	AUS	NED	GER	GBR	JPN	FRA	ISR	ESP
1996	CAN	NED	USA	AUS	JPN	GBR	GER	BRA
2000	CAN	AUS	JPN	NED	USA	MEX	GER	GBR
2004	CAN	USA	GER	AUS	NED	JPN	MEX	FRA
2008	USA	GER	AUS	JPN	CAN	NED	CHN	GBR	MEX	BRA
2012	GER	AUS	NED	USA	CHN	CAN	GBR	MEX	GER	FRA
2016	USA	GER	NED	GBR	CAN	CHN	BRA	FRA	ARG	ALG
2020	NED	CHN	USA	GER	CAN	JPN	GBR	ESP	AUS	ALG

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