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A sport-by-sport guide to the Paralympics, Part 1

Ryley Batt helped lead Australia to gold in wheelchair rugby. (Australian Paralympic Committee CC BY-SA 3.0)
Roar Guru
6th September, 2016
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With the Paralympics starting tomorrow, we’ll have a look at all of the sports at the Games, from the ones Australia have previously medalled in, the little-known ones, and the ones where our Aussies are heading in as favourites.

Archery
One of the sports held in Rome at the maiden Paralympic Games in 1960, there are nine different medal events. Some events are contested by athletes without arms or hands, meaning they shoot with their feet. Australia have just one competitor for Rio and have never medalled at the Paralympics in archery. The majority of Paralympic archers are relatively old, with 42 per cent aged over 40 and 71 per cent 31 or older.

Athletics
The pinnacle of every word that ends in ‘lympics’, the Paralympics features most of the same events as the Olympics, albeit with modified rules. The only sports not at the Paralympics are pole vault and decathlon. Australian Tamsin Colley will be one of the youngest competitors at 13 years old, and will be competing in the 200-metre sprint, and there will be 46 other athletes to cheer on. Our medal tally from track and field in Paralympics is far better than the Olympics with 442 medals, 150 of them gold. 2012 yielded 27 medals, our worst performance since the 1970s.

Boccia
Similar to bocce, the Italian version of lawn bowls, except it uses leather balls, boccia is a sport that is confined to the Paralympics and para-events. The sport made its Paralympic debut in 1984. Australia’s sole competitor in the sport at these Paralympics, Daniel Michael, is likely to bring home a medal, which would be our first since our only medal in the sport – a bronze – back in 1996.

Canoeing
Is making its highly-anticipated debut at the Paralympics this year after it was confirmed the sport would be added to Rio back in 2010. Australia have six competitors. They hit the waters next Wednesday, September 14, with the finals the following day.

Cycling
16 cyclists will compete for Australia at these Paralympics. As with the Olympics, Paralympic cycling is split into two divisions: road and track (velodrome). Australia has 34 gold medals in the event but that could change this year as we’re favourite for many events, especially in the velodrome.

Equestrian
The only equestrian event contested at the Paralympics is dressage, where there are 11 events, one of them a team event. With four female riders at this meet, Australia has won nine medals (including three gold) having medalled at every Paralympics since the sport made its debut in 1996.

Football
At the Paralympics, football is divided into two categories. There is a 5-a-side game and a 7-a-side game and is limited to male competitors. Unfortunately, Australia missed out on qualifying for both events but powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina boast strong teams. The five-a-side event is played with four blind athletes and one other with a visual impairment, while 7-a-side is for people with sight. Australia has never medalled in either event.

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Goalball
You’d be forgiven for having never heard of this sport. It is solely for blind people, was invented in 1946 and first played in 1976. Goalball is played on what looks like a very wide squash court with goals at either end. The aim of the game is to roll the ball – which contains a number of loud bells – into the other team’s goals. Australia have a women’s team competing in Rio and they are hoping to be the first goalball team to bring home a medal for the country.

Judo
Judo made its Paralympic debut in 1988 for men and 2004 for women, and is divided into seven weight divisions for men and six for women. To compete, a judoka must have a vision impairment. Australia have never medalled and will be unable to get a maiden medal at these Games, having failed to qualify any athletes.

Powerlifting
This is similar to weightlifting, except athletes compete lying on their back. Powerlifting requires an athlete to have either a spinal injury, cerebral palsy or amputated legs. Like judo, it is separated into divisions, ten for each gender. Australia boasts a better-than-expected record in powerlifting with four golds, eight silvers and five bronze, medalling at every Games bar 1964 and 2012 since its introduction in 1964. 2016 will be the second consecutive Olympics without a medal for Australia, however, because we don’t have a competitor.

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