Australian Paralympic Committee

2004 Athens, Greece

17-29 September 2004:

Athens hosted 136 competing nations for the 12th Paralympic Summer Games. For 17 of these nations it was their first Paralympic Games. During Games time, the Paralympic Village was home to 3,806 athletes, around 2,200 NPC team officials and 1,000 Games officials. Excellent sporting performances in 19 sports resulted in 304 world records and 448 Paralympic records.

China claimed top spot on the final medal tally winning 141 medals in total. Australia placed second on total medals winning 101; 26 gold, 39 silver and 36 bronze. The strict selection criteria set by the APC and sports only meant athletes with the potential to win a medal were selected on the team. As such, the total Australian team size was much smaller than Sydney’s, four years earlier, with 252 athletes and officials.

There were a number of stand out athletes for Australia, all collecting multiple medals. Winning a total of seven medals, and the largest individual medal haul by an Australian, was 15 year old swimmer Matt Cowdrey, who picked up 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Swimmer Chantel Wolfenden was Australia's second highest medal winner claiming a total of six. Closely behind with five medals, also in the sport of swimming, was Prue Watt. There were five athletes who won four medals each; track athlete Tim Sullivan, winning gold in all four of his sprint events, tandem cyclist Lindy Hou, track athlete Heath Francis, swimmer Ben Austin. And finally, six athletes collecting three medals each; Don Elgin (athletics), Kurt Fearnley (athletics), Neil Fuller (athletics), Kieran Modra (cycling), Chris Scott (cycling) and Darren Thrupp (athletics).

For a breakdown of the medals won, click here.

For a full list of the 2004 Australian Paralympic Team, click here.

2000 Sydney, Australia

18-29 October 2000:

The Sydney Games attracted 3,843 athletes from 125 countries. The home team comprised 436 athletes and officials, contesting 10 of the 18 sports. The incredibly successful Sydney Games gave Australian Paralympism its most definitive boost with the largest attendances, most comprehensive media coverage and best-performed Paralympic team in history. Dr Robert Steadwood, then President of the IPC declared Sydney the “best Games ever”

After a glittering opening ceremony, 1.1 million spectators packed out the events over the 11 days of competition. The organizing committee, through the Link Elite Athlete Program, aimed to attract Sydney school children to experience the spirit of the Games and the response was overwhelming. One of the enduring images of 2000 Games was the singing of the national anthem by hundreds of proud Australian children

The Sydney Games were also the most successful ever for Australia which finished on top of the medal table with 149 medals – 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze. All in all the 2000 Paralympic Games went a long way to changing attitudes and mindsets and justified the APC’s long held position that at all times Paralympic athletes are regarded as elite sportspeople

For a breakdown of the medals won, click here.

For a full list of the 2000 Australian Paralympic Team, click here.

1996 Atlanta, USA

16-25 August 1996:

The Australian Team that returned from these games was hailed as the most successful Australian sporting team ever. Although just 166-strong, the Australians led the medal tally until the final day of competition – ahead of much larger teams from Germany, Great Britain, Spain and host nation USA. We finally finished in second spot behind the USA with 42 gold, 37 silver and 27 bronze; a total of 106 medals. Apart from the medal haul, and the second placing on the tally it was the fact that the team collected medals in 10 of the 13 sports that Australia contested, which delighted the Australian Paralympic Federation (now the Australian Paralympic Committee). At the Games, 3195 athletes competed representing 103 countries

For a breakdown of the medals won, click here.

For a full list of the 1996 Australian Paralympic Team, click here.