| Ireland at the Paralympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IPC code | IRL |
| NPC | Paralympics Ireland |
| Website | www |
| Medals |
|
| Summer appearances | |
A team representing Ireland has competed at every Summer Paralympic Games but the country has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics. Irish athletes have won 178 Summer Paralympic medals, 47 gold, 57 silver and 74 bronze.[1] Paralympics Ireland (formerly the Paralympic Council of Ireland) is the National Paralympic Committee. Athletes from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Paralympics, on the same basis as at the Olympics.
At the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome Ireland were one of 23 nations to enter athletes. The team finished 12th in the medals table with both of Ireland's gold medals being won by Joan Horan. Horan won her medals in two different sports, one in women's St. Nicholas Round open archery and one in the women's 25 m Crawl complete class 2 swimming event.[2][3][4] At the next Games, hosted by Tokyo in 1964, no Irish athlete won a medal, this remains Ireland's only Summer Paralympics with no medal winners. The most medals won by Ireland at a Paralympic Games is 65, 20 of them gold, at the 1984 Games hosted in New York and Stoke Mandeville.
At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, held in Beijing, Ireland won five medals in total, three of them gold. There was controversy over the participation of Derek Malone in the 7-a-side cerebral palsy football tournament. Malone, who had competed in the 800 m event at the Athens Paralympics was ruled as ineligible to compete by Games classification authorities on the grounds that his disability was not severe enough.[5][6]
Medal tables
Medals by Summer Games
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 Rome | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1964 Tokyo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 Tel-Aviv | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 1972 Heidelberg | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 1976 Toronto | 4 | 10 | 6 | 20 |
| 1980 Arnhem | 4 | 2 | 11 | 17 |
| 1984 Stoke Mandeville 1984 New York | 20 | 15 | 31 | 66 |
| 1988 Seoul | 13 | 11 | 18 | 42 |
| 1992 Barcelona | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 1996 Atlanta | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 2000 Sydney | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2004 Athens | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2008 Beijing | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2012 London | 8 | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 2020 Tokyo | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Totals (16 entries) | 70 | 68 | 95 | 233 |
Medals by summer sport
Updated to the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Athletics | 37 | 39 | 63 | 139 |
 Swimming | 10 | 10 | 9 | 29 |
 Lawn bowls | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
_pictogram.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Cycling | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
 Table tennis | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 |
 Boccia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
 Snooker | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
 Archery | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Equestrian | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 Football 7-a-side | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 66 | 66 | 94 | 226 |
See also
References
- ↑ "IPC Historical Results Database". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "Ireland's first Paralympic athlete, Oliver Murphy, is honoured at the Renault Ireland Team 2012 Camp". Paralympic Council of Ireland. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "Ireland honours pioneering Paralympian". inside world parasport. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "name=Joan Horan". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
- ↑ Gareth A Davies (13 September 2008). "IPC defend banning of Irish footballer Derek Malone from Paralympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ↑ "Games exit for Ireland's Malone". BBC Sport. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2010.