| Npc: | NED |
| Npcname: | Nederlands Olympisch Comité * Nederlandse Sport Federatie |
| Games: | Summer Paralympics |
| Year: | 1972 |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of the Netherlands |
| Oldcode: | HOL |
| Website: | |
| Location: | Heidelberg |
| Competitors: | 39 (26 men and 13 women) |
| Rank: | 5 |
| Gold: | 14 |
| Silver: | 13 |
| Bronze: | 11 |
| Appearances: | auto |
Netherlands competed at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. The team included 39 athletes, 26 men and 13 women.[1] Competitors from Netherlands won 38 medals, including 14 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze to finish 5th in the medal table.[2]
Athletes at the Paralympics in 1972 were all afflicted by spinal cord injuries and required the use of a wheelchair.[3] This is in contrast to later Paralympics that include events for participants that fit into any of five different disability categories; amputation, either congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[4] [5] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.[6]