Great Britain at the Paralympics explained

Npc:	GBR
Npcname:	British Paralympic Association
Games:	Paralympics
Flagcaption:	Flag of the United Kingdom
Rank:	2
Gold:	670
Silver:	635
Bronze:	649

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

While the Olympic Games find their origin in Ancient Greece, post-war Britain, and specifically the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, is recognised as the spiritual birthplace and home of the Paralympic movement. The first Paralympic Games, held in Rome in 1960, were simultaneously the 9th International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, a competition first devised by Dr Ludwig Guttmann in 1948 to coincide with the London Olympic Games of 1948, for soldiers with spinal cord injuries being cared for in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and which first became an international event in 1952. While the Stoke Mandeville Games continue to exist as 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 more comprehensive range of disabilities. Dr. Guttmann's stature in the history and lore of the Paralympic movement is therefore broadly analogous to that of Pierre de Coubertin in the birth of the Olympic Games. 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 until the 21st century - 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. These Games are the direct precurssor and inspiration of the Paralympic Games, but are not treated as an edition of those Games. Great Britain was, however, 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 British Paralympic Association and the Paralympics Ireland, athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent Ireland at the Paralympics, as Northern Irish people are legally entitled to 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 Sarah Storey, who took the honour at the 2020 Summer Paralympics when she won her 16th gold medal, and 27th medal in all. Prior to 2020, the record had been held for decades by swimmer Mike Kenny who also won 16 individual gold medals, as well as two relay silvers, in four Games.^[5] Although Great Britain has competed in every Games, the 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 to differentiate from the pre-BPC events.^[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 1960 Rome Games by Margaret Maughan. Her feat was recognised when Maughan was chosen to light 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 alpine skiing. Most recently by Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Jennifer Kehoe in 2018, Jade Etherington and guide Caroline Powell in 2014. Richard Burt won 4 medals across two games in 1992 and 1994. However, Fitzpatrick and her guide Kehoe are the only athletes from this group to have won a gold medal. The only other British athletes to have won a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics are Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans, also in alpine skiing in 2014 and Neil Simpson and his guide and brother, Andrew in 2022, also in Alpine skiing.

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
		22 July – 1 August	41	1100	603
		29 August – 9 September	164	4302	503

Medal tables

Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
	53	20	15	20	55
	39	18	23	20	61
	75	29	20	20	69	2
	72	16	15	21	52
	87	29	28	37	94
	96	47	32	21	100
	227	107	112	112	331
	231	65	65	54	184
	209	42	51	45	138
	248	39	42	41	122
	215	41	43	47	131
	167	35	30	29	94
	212	42	29	31	102
	288	34	43	43	120
	265	64	39	44	147	2
	227	41	38	45	124	2
	215
	future event
	future event
Total		669	625	630	1924	2

Medals by Winter Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
	6	0	0	0	0
	8	0	0	0	0
	22	0	4	6	10
	24	0	0	0	0
	15	0	1	4	5
	23	0	0	5	5
	21	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0
	20	0	1	0	1
	12	0	0	0	0
	15	1	3	2	6
	17	1	4	2	7
	24	1	1	4	6	14
	Future event
Total		3	14	23	40

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	bgcolor=#f7f6a8		bgcolor=#dce5e5		bgcolor=#ffdab9	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)

Winter Games medals by sport

Medals by sport
Sport	bgcolor=#f7f6a8		bgcolor=#dce5e5		bgcolor=#ffdab9	Total
Alpine skiing	3	9	15	27
Ice sledge speed racing	0	4	4	8
Wheelchair curling	0	1	1	2
Cross country skiing	0	0	2	2
Snowboarding	0	0	1	1
Total	3	14	23	40

(Last updated: 10 January 2024)

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	Years	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sarah Storey	1992 – 2020	F	17	8	3	28
2		1976 – 1988	M	16	2	0	18
3	Lee Pearson	2000 - 2020	M	14	2	1	17
4		1988 – 2000	F	11	4	1	16
5		2000 – 2008	M	11	4	1	16
6		1984–2004	F	10	4	4	18
7		1964–1976, 1988	F	10	2	5	17
8		1988–2000	M	9	5	1	15
9		1984–1988	M	9	0	0	9
10		1984–2004	M	8	4	1	13
11	Jody Cundy	1996–2020	M	8	3	1	12
12	Sophie Christiansen	2004–2016	F	8	1	1	10
13	Hannah Cockroft	2012–2020	F	7	0	0	7
14		1992–2012	M	6	9	2	17
15		1964–1976	F	6	4	2	12
16		1960–1968	M	6	3	6	15
17		2004–2012	M	6	3	1	10
18		2004–2016	M	6	2	2	10
19		1984–1996	F	5	10	5	20^[9]
20		1976–1984	M	5	5	3	13
21		1984–2004	M	5	4	2	11
22		1960–1972	F	5	2	0	7
22		1964–1972	M	5	2	0	7
23	Ellie Simmonds	2008–2016	F	5	1	2	8
24		1996–2008	F	5	1	1	7
25		1984–1988	M	5	1	0	6
26		1988–1992	M	5	0	0	5
26	Natasha Baker	2012–2016	F	5	0	0	5
28		1960–1980	F	4	2	0	6
28		2004–2012	F	4	2	0	6
30		1992–2000	F	4	1	0	5
31		2000–2012	M	3	6	3	12
32		1992–2004	F	3	5	7	15
33		1988–2004, 2016	F	3	4	6	13
34		1988–1992	M	3	4	0	7
35		1996–2008	M	3	2	4	9
36		1996–2004	M	3	2	2	7
37	Kadeena Cox	02016–2020	F	3	1	1	5
38		2000–2004	F	3	0	3	6
39		1992–2008	M	3	0	2	5
40		1988–1992	M	3	0	0	3
41		1984–1988	M	2	5	1	8
42		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	Year	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Pauline Foulds	1960	F	5	0	0	5
1	Robin Surgeoner	1984	M	5	0	0	5
3	Dick Thompson	1960	M	4	0	1	7
3	Dick Thompson	1960	M	0	1	1	7
4	Darren Kenny	2008	M	4	1	0	5
5	Michael Walker	1988	M	4	0	0	4
	Barbara Anderson	1960	F	3	0	0	4
	Barbara Anderson	1960	F	1	0	0	4
7	Janice Burton	1992	F	3	4	0	7
8	James Crisp	2000	M	3	2	2	7
9	Sarah Bailey	1996	F	3	1	1	5
10	Nigel Coultas	1988	M	3	1	0	4
10	Bethany Firth	2016	F	3	1	0	4
12	Stephen Payton	1996	M	3	0	1	4
13	Colin Keay	1984	M	3	0	0	3
13	Peter Hull	1992	M	3	0	0	3
15	Joanne Rout	1988	F	2	3	0	5
16	Jeanette Chippington	1996	F	2	1	2	5
17	Kadeena Cox	2016	F	1	1	1	4
	Kadeena Cox	2016	F	1	0	0	4
	Ellie Simmonds	2012	F	2	1	1	4
18	Thelma Young	1988	F	2	0	2	4
19	Nicola Tustain	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	Event	Years	Games	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sascha Kindred	Men's 200m ind. medley	1996-2016	6	M	4	1	0	5
2	Tommy Taylor	Men's doubles	1960-1980	6	M	4	0	1	5
3	Anne Dunham	Team open	1996-2008	4	F	4	0	0	4
4	Stephen Miller	Men's club throw F32/51	1996-2016	6	M	3	1	2	6
5	Kenny Churchill	Men's javelin throw F36	1992-2004	4	M	3	0	1	4
6	Caroline Innes	Women's 100m T36	1992-2000	3	F	2	1	0	3
7	Emma Brown	Women's -82 kg	2000-2004	2	F	2	0	0	2
8	Bethany Firth^[10]	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	Years	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Lee Pearson	2000-2020	M	14	2	1	17
Sarah Storey	1996-2020	F	9	0	0	9
Michael Shelton	1960-1976	M	3	1	1	5
James Fox Pamela Relph Laurence Whiteley Lauren Rowles	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	Birth Year	Games Years	First/Last Age	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Deanna Coates	1954	1984 - 2012 (8)	30 - 58	F	3	3	2	8
1	Sarah Storey	1973	1992 - 2020 (8)	15 - 43	F	15	8	3	26
2	Isabel Newstead	1955	1980 - 2004 (7)	25 - 49	F	10	4	4	18
	James Rawson	1965	1984 - 2008 (7)	19 - 43	M	5	1	2	8
	Anthony Peddle	1971	1988 - 2012 (7)	17 - 41	M	1	0	2	3
5	Robert Matthews	1961	1984 - 2004 (6)	23 - 51	M	8	4	1	13
	Jane Stidever	1966	1984 - 2004 (6)	18 - 38	F	5	5	5	15
	James Anderson	1963	1992 - 2012 (6)	29 - 49	M	6	9	2	17
	Jody Cundy	1978	1996 - 2016 (6)	18 - 38	M	7	0	3	10
	Stephen Miller	1980	1996 - 2016 (6)	16 - 36	M	3	1	2	6
10	Christopher Holmes	1971	1988 - 2000 (4)	17 - 29	M	9	5	1	15
10	Stephen Brunt	1960	1988 - 2000 (4)	18 - 40	M	2	1	0	3

Winter Paralympics

No.	Athlete	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Menna Fitzpatrick Guide: Jennifer Kehoe	2018	F	1	2	1	4
2	Kelly Gallagher Guide: Charlotte Evans	2010–2014	F	1	0	0	1
3	Jade Etherington Guide: Caroline Powell	2014	F	0	3	1	4
4	Denise Smith	1984	F	0	3	0	3
5	Richard Burt	1992–1994	M	0	1	3	4

Notes and References

Web site: London 2012 Paralympic Games About Us . . paralympic.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20120701092623/http://www.paralympic.org/Events/London2012/AboutUs . 2012-07-01 . dead . 2020-01-04.
"No place for 'NI', says Olympic Team GB", Belfast Telegraph, 10 March 2011
Web site: Minister urges BOA to change 'erroneous Team GB name'. BBC News. 27 April 2011. 10 March 2011.
Web site: Full text of the constitution . . taoiseach.gov.ie . 2010-02-17 . PDF . dead . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050415121010/http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Constitution%20of%20Ireland.pdf . 2005-04-15 .
Web site: Mike Kenny (swimmer). Paralympians' Club. 29 August 2012.
News: Sarah Storey Britain's greatest Paralympian of the modern era . Daily Telegraph . 2012-10-12.
Web site: Meet Britain's other greatest Paralympian . Daily Telegraph . 2012-02-17.
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