List of Paralympic medalists in athletics

History

Athletics was one of the first eight sports to be competed in the Summer Paralympics which began in 1960. At the time it debuted, only track events were held: club throw, javelin throw, pentathlon (for male athletes) precision club throw and shot put which held between men and women. They were held between three classes per event: class A, B and C. The first multi-medallist Maria Scutti from Italy won almost all events for women by gaining nine gold medals and made her team top the medal table. In the 1964 Summer Paralympics, track events were featured for the first for only wheelchair competitors where 60m and 100m (for male competitors) races were in place as well as 4x40m relay race. Slalom and pentathlon events began in the 1968 Summer Paralympics.

Heidelberg saw more track events added: as well as wheelchair competitors, competitors with different disabilities took part leading the total of events (both field and track) held in athletics to 207.

Medal tables

From 1960 to 2012

1960s Summer Paralympics Athletics medal table

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	27	29	29	85
2	Italy (ITA)	23	20	15	58
3	Great Britain (GBR)	13	7	14	24
4	Israel (ISR)	11	11	15	37
5	Argentina (ARG)	10	14	18	42
6	Australia (AUS)	9	14	6	29
7	South Africa (RSA)	9	11	6	26
8	Germany (GER)	8	3	7	18
9	Canada (CAN)	5	4	3	12
10	West Germany (FRG)	3	5	2	10
11	Rhodesia (RHO)	3	4	4	11
12	France (FRA)	2	0	1	3
13	Jamaica (JAM)	2	0	0	2
14	Japan (JPN)	1	2	5	8
15	New Zealand (NZL)	1	1	1	3
16	Austria (AUT)	0	6	8	14
17	Netherlands (NED)	0	3	1	4
18	Switzerland (SUI)	0	2	0	2
19	Malta (MLT)	0	1	1	2
20	Ireland (IRL)	0	0	1	1

1970s Summer Paralympics Athletics medal table

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	53	51	42	145
2	West Germany (FRG)	34	22	26	82
3	Israel (ISR)	18	10	9	37
4	Canada (CAN)	17	24	22	63
5	Poland (POL)	15	4	7	26
6	Mexico (MEX)	14	9	5	28
7	Finland (FIN)	11	15	9	35
8	Australia (AUS)	11	14	9	34
9	Japan (JPN)	11	9	4	24
10	South Africa (RSA)	9	19	23	51
11	Austria (AUT)	9	16	16	41
12	Great Britain (GBR)	9	6	22	37
13	Sweden (SWE)	8	6	9	23
14	New Zealand (NZL)	8	5	4	17
15	Belgium (BEL)	7	3	5	15
16	Switzerland (SUI)	6	6	7	19
17	Netherlands (NED)	6	6	4	16
18	Egypt (EGY)	5	1	1	7
19	Norway (NOR)	4	3	3	10
20	France (FRA)	4	1	2	7
21	Jamaica (JAM)	4	0	1	5
22	Ireland (IRL)	3	11	7	21
23	Denmark (DEN)	3	0	1	4
24	Argentina (ARG)	2	5	3	10
25	Italy (ITA)	2	3	6	11
26	Spain (ESP)	2	2	1	5
27	Indonesia (INA)	1	1	3	5
28	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	1	2	4
29	Burma (BIR)	1	1	1	3
29	Rhodesia (RHO)	1	1	1	3
30	Hong Kong (HKG)	0	0	1	1
30	Peru (PER)	0	0	1	1

1980s Summer Paralympics Athletics medal table

Rank	NPC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	172	180	129	481
2	Canada (CAN)	113	74	76	263
3	West Germany (FRG)	103	98	93	294
4	Great Britain (GBR)	99	71	71	241
5	Poland (POL)	58	62	47	167
6	Sweden (SWE)	46	24	17	87
7	Australia (AUS)	39	41	47	127
7	Belgium (BEL)	35	30	18	83
8	France (FRA)	32	44	27	103
9	Mexico (MEX)	28	32	25	85
10	Japan (JPN)	27	18	13	58
11	Ireland (IRL)	26	20	38	84
12	Norway (NOR)	25	23	18	66
13	Switzerland (SUI)	23	26	24	73
14	Austria (AUT)	22	26	23	71
15	Denmark (DEN)	22	13	9	44
16	Finland (FIN)	21	39	33	93
17	Soviet Union (URS)	21	9	6	36
18	Netherlands (NED)	17	21	25	63
19	South Korea (KOR)	14	11	9	34
20	New Zealand (NZL)	12	15	16	43
21	Italy (ITA)	11	12	20	43
22	Brazil (BRA)	9	20	8	37
23	Yugoslavia (YUG)	9	10	14	33
24	Spain (ESP)	8	7	5	20
25	Kuwait (KUW)	7	8	8	23
26	Jamaica (JAM)	7	7	7	21
27	Israel (ISR)	6	15	14	35
28	China (CHN)	5	15	9	29
29	Portugal (POR)	5	7	8	20
30	Egypt (EGY)	5	4	8	17
31	Hungary (HUN)	2	9	2	13
32	Kenya (KEN)	2	5	2	9
33	Hong Kong (HKG)	2	3	9	14
34	Iran (IRI)	2	1	3	6
35	Bulgaria (BUL)	2	1	0	3
36	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	2	0	0	2
37	Burma (BIR)	1	2	1	4
38	Puerto Rico (PUR)	1	2	0	3
39	Bahrain (BRN)	1	1	3	5
40	Iceland (ISL)	1	0	4	5
41	Sudan (SUD)	1	0	0	1
42	Argentina (ARG)	0	5	3	8
43	Zimbabwe (ZIM)	0	3	2	5
44	East Germany (GDR)	0	3	1	4
45	Bahamas (BAH)	0	2	2	4
45	India (IND)	0	2	2	4
47	Luxembourg (LUX)	0	2	1	3
48	Indonesia (INA)	0	2	0	2
49	Jordan (JOR)	0	1	2	3
50	Thailand (THA)	0	1	0	1
51	Greece (GRE)	0	0	3	3
52	Tunisia (TUN)	0	0	2	2

Events

Defunct field events

• Football accuracy and distance (held inn 1976)
• Precision javelin throw (held between 1960 to 1976, 1988)
• Slalom open (held between 1964 to 1988)

Defunct track events

• 1,000m cross country (held in 1984)
• 1,500m cross country (held in 1984)
• Men's 1,500m walk (held in 1976)
• 20m sprint (held in 1984)
• Mixed 3 x 60m relay (held in 1984)
• Women's 3,000m walk (held in 1980)
• 3,000m cross country (held since 1988)
• 4 x 200m (held between 1984 to 1988)
• 4 x 40m relay open (held between 1968 to 1980)
• 4 x 60m relay open (held between 1968 to 1980)
• Mixed 4 x 100m relay (held in 1988)
• Men's 5,000m walk (held between 1980 to 1988)
• 5,000m cross country (held in 1988)
• 60m sprint (held between 1976 to 1984)
• 80m sprint (held in 1980)
• Novice 60m wheelchair dash (held between 1968 to 1976)
• Wheelchair dash (held between 1964 to 1968)
• Wheelchair relay (held between 1964 to 1968)

Current field events

Changed to "F-" classes in 1996.

• Club throw (held since 1960)
• Discus throw (held since 1960)
• High jump (held since 1964)
• Javelin throw (held since 1960)
• Long jump (held since 1964)
• Pentathlon (held since 1960)
• Shot put (held since 1960)
• Triple jump (held since 1980)

Current track events

Changed to "T-" classes in 1996.

• 100m (held since 1964)
• 200m (held since 1968)
• 400m (held since 1968)
• 800m (held since 1968)
• 1,500m (held since 1980)
• 5,000m (held since 1984)
• 10,000m (held since 1988)
• 4 x 100m (held since 1980)
• 4 x 400m (held since 1984)
• Marathon (held since 1984)