| Sport: | boccia |
| Size: | 150 |
| Evemts: | 11 |
| Mixedevents: | 3 |
Boccia has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since the 1984 Games in New York City and Stoke Mandeville.
This sport requires strategy and precision, and is similar to curling or French pétanque. It is played on a court 12.5 m by 6 m wide. Each team has 6 leather balls, and must bring them as close as possible to a white ball called a “jack”.[1]
Five boccia events were held at those games, two for men, two for women, and one mixed event where men and women competed together. From 1988 until 2020, all boccia events at the Paralympics have been mixed. In 2024, separate events for men and women as individuals will be reintroduced, while pairs and team competition will remain mixed sex. Athletes in this sport have cerebral palsy and are given a classification according to the extent of their disability. There were originally two classes, C1 and C2, with C1 corresponding to those with more severe impairment. In 1996 a "C1 with aid device" class was added, and in 2000 the system was changed to have four classes, BC1 through BC4.
With the reintroduction of the separate sex classifications for individual play, the 2024 Paralympic Games will have the highest number of events in the history of the sport, eleven.
| width=50 | Games | width=50 | Year | width=100 | Events | width=200 | Best Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | not held | ||||||
| 1964 | |||||||
| 1968 | |||||||
| 1972 | |||||||
| 1976 | |||||||
| 1978 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 7 | / | ||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 11 | |||||||
The table below gives the total number of boccia events and the disability classifications contested in individual, pairs, and team competition for each edition of the Summer Paralympics. All events were mixed unless noted otherwise.
| Year | Number of events | Individual events | Pairs events | Team events | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 5 | Men's C1 Men's C2 Women's C1 Women's C2 | Open | ||
| 1988 | 3 | C1 C2 | C1–C2 | ||
| 1992 | 3 | C1 C2 | C1–C2 | ||
| 1996 | 5 | C1 C1 with aid device C2 | C1 with aid device | C1–C2 | |
| 2000 | 5 | BC1 BC2 BC3 | BC3 | BC1–BC2 | |
| 2004 | 7 | BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4 | BC3 BC4 | BC1–BC2 | |
| 2008 | 7 | BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4 | BC3 BC4 | BC1–BC2 | |
| 2012 | 7 | BC1BC2 BC3 BC4 | BC3BC4 | BC1-BC2 | |
| 2016 | 7 | BC1BC2 BC3 BC4 | BC3BC4 | BC1-BC2 | |
| 2020 | 7 | BC1BC2 BC3 BC4 | BC3BC4 | BC1-BC2 | |
| 2024 | 11 | Men's BC1 Men's BC2 Men's BC3 Men's BC4 Women's BC1 Women's BC2 Women's BC3 Women's BC4 | BC3 BC4 | BC1-BC2 |
Updated after the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Boccia players who have won two gold medals or five medals. Active players are in bold.
| No. | Athlete | Country | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dirceu Pinto | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 2 | Antonio Cid | 1992-2004 | 4 | M | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2 | Jeong Ho-won | 2008-2020 | 4 | M | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4 | David Smith | 2008-2020 | 4 | M | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5 | João Paulo Fernandes | 2004-2008 | 2 | M | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Pattaya Tadtong | 2004-2016 | 3 | M | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Antonio Marques | 1988, 1996-2008, 2016 | 6 | M | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Eliseu dos Santos | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 9 | Grigorios Polychronidis | 2012-2024 | 4 | M | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 10 | Nigel Murray | 2000-2012 | 4 | M | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 11 | Henrik Jorgensen | 1984-1996, 2004 | 5 | M | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Nations | 5 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 24 | |||||||
| Competitors | 19 | 34 | 42 | 64 | 64 | 84 | 88 | 103 | 106 | 106 | |||||||