Wheelchair tennis at the Summer Paralympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wheelchair tennis at the Summer Paralympics
Governing body	ITF
Events	6 (men: 2; women: 2; mixed: 2)
Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Note: demonstration sport years indicated in italics
Medalists

Wheelchair tennis is an exciting sport played at the Summer Paralympics. It first appeared as a special "demonstration sport" in 1988. This means it was shown to everyone, but no medals were given out yet. Only two events were held then: singles for men and singles for women.

In 1992, wheelchair tennis became an official sport at the Paralympics, which meant athletes could now win medals! Since then, it has been a part of every Summer Paralympics. From 1992 to 2000, there were four events. In 2004, two new "quad" events were added for both singles and doubles. These events are for athletes with more severe impairments and are open to both men and women.

A Quick Look at Wheelchair Tennis at the Paralympics

Wheelchair tennis has grown a lot at the Paralympics over the years. It started with just two events in 1988. By 1992, it had four events, and since 2004, there have been six different medal events. The Netherlands has been the most successful country in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics, winning many medals.

What Are the Wheelchair Tennis Events?

At each Paralympic Games, there are six different events where athletes can compete for medals.

When wheelchair tennis was first shown in 1988, only men's and women's singles were played. Four years later, when it became an official sport, men's and women's doubles events were added.

In 2004, two new "quad" events were introduced. These events are for athletes who have limited use of all four limbs, often due to a condition called quadriplegia. Unlike the other events, quad events are mixed, meaning both men and women can compete together.

Current Events in Wheelchair Tennis:

• Men's singles (one player against another)
• Men's doubles (two players against two players)
• Women's singles (one player against another)
• Women's doubles (two players against two players)
• Quad singles (one player against another, for athletes with specific impairments)
• Quad doubles (two players against two players, for athletes with specific impairments)

Who Has Won Medals?

Many amazing athletes from different countries have won medals in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics. The Netherlands has won the most medals overall, showing how strong their players are in this sport. Other countries like France, Australia, United States, Great Britain, and Japan have also won many medals.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands (NED)	23	15	13	51
2	United States (USA)	6	7	6	19
3	France (FRA)	6	4	7	17
4	Australia (AUS)	5	7	3	15
5	Japan (JPN)	4	2	6	12
6	Great Britain (GBR)	3	9	8	20
7	Sweden (SWE)	1	2	0	3
8	Israel (ISR)	1	1	2	4
9	Germany (GER)	0	1	4	5
10	Thailand (THA)	0	1	0	1
11	Belgium (BEL)	0	0	1	1
	Switzerland (SUI)	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)		49	49	51	149

Medal Winners in Detail

Here are the medal winners for each event since wheelchair tennis became an official medal sport in 1992.

Men's Singles Champions

These are the top male players who have won gold, silver, and bronze medals in the singles event.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1988 Seoul demonstration	Laurent Giammartini  France	Mick Connell  Australia	Chip Turner  United States Sasson Aharoni  Israel
1992 Barcelona	Randy Snow  United States	Kai Schramayer  Germany	Laurent Giammartini  France
1996 Atlanta	Ricky Molier  Netherlands	Stephen Welch  United States	David Hall  Australia
2000 Sydney	David Hall  Australia	Stephen Welch  United States	Kai Schramayer  Germany
2004 Athens	Robin Ammerlaan  Netherlands	David Hall  Australia	Michaël Jérémiasz  France
2008 Beijing	Shingo Kunieda  Japan	Robin Ammerlaan  Netherlands	Maikel Scheffers  Netherlands
2012 London	Shingo Kunieda  Japan	Stéphane Houdet  France	Ronald Vink  Netherlands
2016 Rio	Gordon Reid  Great Britain	Alfie Hewett  Great Britain	Joachim Gérard  Belgium
2020 Tokyo	Shingo Kunieda  Japan	Tom Egberink  Netherlands	Gordon Reid  Great Britain

Women's Singles Champions

Here are the top female players who have won gold, silver, and bronze medals in the singles event.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1988 Seoul demonstration	Chantal Vandierendonck  Netherlands	Monique Van Den Bosch  Netherlands	Terry Lewis  United States Ellen de Lange  Netherlands
1992 Barcelona	Monique van den Bosch  Netherlands	Chantal Vandierendonck  Netherlands	Regina Isecke  Germany
1996 Atlanta	Maaike Smit  Netherlands	Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch  Netherlands	Chantal Vandierendonck  Netherlands
2000 Sydney	Esther Vergeer  Netherlands	Sharon Walraven  Netherlands	Maaike Smit  Netherlands
2004 Athens	Esther Vergeer  Netherlands	Sonja Peters  Netherlands	Daniela Di Toro  Australia
2008 Beijing	Esther Vergeer  Netherlands	Korie Homan  Netherlands	Florence Gravellier  France
2012 London	Esther Vergeer  Netherlands	Aniek van Koot  Netherlands	Jiske Griffioen  Netherlands
2016 Rio	Jiske Griffioen  Netherlands	Aniek van Koot  Netherlands	Yui Kamiji  Japan
2020 Tokyo	Diede de Groot  Netherlands	Yui Kamiji  Japan	Jordanne Whiley  Great Britain

Quad Singles Champions

These are the medal winners for the quad singles event, which started in 2004.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2004 Athens	Peter Norfolk  Great Britain	David Wagner  United States	Bas van Erp  Netherlands
2008 Beijing	Peter Norfolk  Great Britain	Johan Andersson  Sweden	David Wagner  United States
2012 London	Noam Gershony  Israel	David Wagner  United States	Nicholas Taylor  United States
2016 Rio	Dylan Alcott  Australia	Andrew Lapthorne  Great Britain	David Wagner  United States
2020 Tokyo	Dylan Alcott  Australia	Sam Schröder  Netherlands	Niels Vink  Netherlands

Men's Doubles Champions

These are the teams of male players who have won medals in the doubles event.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1992 Barcelona	United States (USA) Brad Parks Randy Snow	France (FRA) Thierry Caillier Laurent Giammartini	Germany (GER) Stefan Bitterauf Kai Schramayer
1996 Atlanta	United States (USA) Stephen Welch Vance Parmelly	Australia (AUS) David Hall Mick Connell	Netherlands (NED) Ricky Molier Eric Stuurman
2000 Sydney	Netherlands (NED) Ricky Molier Robin Ammerlaan	Australia (AUS) David Johnson David Hall	United States (USA) Stephen Welch Scott Douglas
2004 Athens	Japan (JPN) Shingo Kunieda Satoshi Saida	France (FRA) Michaël Jérémiasz Lahcen Majdi	Australia (AUS) Anthony Bonaccurso David Hall
2008 Beijing	France (FRA) Stéphane Houdet Michaël Jérémiasz	Sweden (SWE) Stefan Olsson Peter Vikström	Japan (JPN) Shingo Kunieda Satoshi Saida
2012 London	Sweden (SWE) Stefan Olsson Peter Vikström	France (FRA) Frédéric Cattanéo Nicolas Peifer	France (FRA) Stéphane Houdet Michaël Jérémiasz
2016 Rio	France (FRA) Stéphane Houdet Nicolas Peifer	Great Britain (GBR) Alfie Hewett Gordon Reid	Japan (JPN) Shingo Kunieda Satoshi Saida
2020 Tokyo	France (FRA) Stéphane Houdet Nicolas Peifer	Great Britain (GBR) Alfie Hewett Gordon Reid	Netherlands (NED) Tom Egberink Maikel Scheffers

Women's Doubles Champions

These are the teams of female players who have won medals in the doubles event.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1992 Barcelona	Netherlands (NED) Monique van den Bosch Chantal Vandierendonck	United States (USA) Nancy Olson Lynn Seidemann	France (FRA) Oristelle Marx Arlette Racineux
1996 Atlanta	Netherlands (NED) Chantal Vandierendonck Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch	United States (USA) Hope Lewellen Nancy Olson	France (FRA) Oristelle Marx Arlette Racineux
2000 Sydney	Netherlands (NED) Maaike Smit Esther Vergeer	Australia (AUS) Branka Pupovac Daniela Di Toro	Germany (GER) Christine Otterbach Petra Sax-Scharl
2004 Athens	Netherlands (NED) Maaike Smit Esther Vergeer	Thailand (THA) Sakhorn Khanthasit Ratana Techamaneewat	Switzerland (SUI) Sandra Kalt Karin Suter-Erath
2008 Beijing	Netherlands (NED) Korie Homan Sharon Walraven	Netherlands (NED) Jiske Griffioen Esther Vergeer	France (FRA) Florence Gravellier Arlette Racineux
2012 London	Netherlands (NED) Marjolein Buis Esther Vergeer	Netherlands (NED) Jiske Griffioen Aniek van Koot	Great Britain (GBR) Lucy Shuker Jordanne Whiley
2016 Rio	Netherlands (NED) Jiske Griffioen Aniek van Koot	Netherlands (NED) Marjolein Buis Diede de Groot	Great Britain (GBR) Lucy Shuker Jordanne Whiley
2020 Tokyo	Netherlands (NED) Diede de Groot Aniek van Koot	Great Britain (GBR) Lucy Shuker Jordanne Whiley	Japan (JPN) Yui Kamiji Momoko Ohtani

Quad Doubles Champions

These are the teams of players who have won medals in the quad doubles event.

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2004 Athens	United States (USA) Nicholas Taylor David Wagner	Great Britain (GBR) Mark Eccleston Peter Norfolk	Netherlands (NED) Monique de Beer Bas van Erp
2008 Beijing	United States (USA) Nicholas Taylor David Wagner	Israel (ISR) Boaz Kramer Shraga Weinberg	Great Britain (GBR) Jamie Burdekin Peter Norfolk
2012 London	United States (USA) Nicholas Taylor David Wagner	Great Britain (GBR) Andrew Lapthorne Peter Norfolk	Israel (ISR) Noam Gershony Shraga Weinberg
2016 Rio	Australia (AUS) Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson	United States (USA) Nicholas Taylor David Wagner	Great Britain (GBR) Andrew Lapthorne Peter Norfolk
2020 Tokyo	Netherlands (NED) Sam Schröder Niels Vink	Australia (AUS) Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson	Japan (JPN) Mitsuteru Moroishi Koji Sugeno

See also

In Spanish: Tenis en silla de ruedas en los Juegos Paralímpicos para niños

• Tennis at the Summer Olympics