Ukraine at the Paralympics

Competing as an independent country since 1996, Ukrainian athletes have won a total of 472 Paralympic medals on Summer Games, of which 149 gold, 213 silver and 213 bronze, placing the country 14th on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table. At the Winter Paralympics the country has won 141 medals at the Winter Games: 38 gold, 51 silver and 52 bronze. It has won more gold medals, and more medals overall, than any other former member of the Soviet Union, apart from Russia.^[3]

In the 2000s, Ukraine became a major Summer Paralympic power. While it had taken only seven medals at the 1996 Summer Games and finished in a unnoticed 44th place.Four years after in Sydney.The country improved their overall performance with 37 medals, but only 3 were gold, which put the country in a discreet 35th place. It ascended to the top ranks at the 2004 Games in Athens, sweeping up 55 medals, of which 24 gold, to finish sixth on the medal table. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, Ukrainians won 74 medals, of which 24 gold, and finished fourth – behind only China (1st), the United Kingdom (2nd) and the United States (3rd).^[4][5]

Ukraine has also been highly successful at the Winter Paralympics, its best result coming at the 2022 Games in Beijing, where it won 29 medals (including 11 gold) to finish second behind hosts China.^[6][7]

Valeriy Sushkevych, a former disability swimmer turned politician and member of Parliament, has been credited with "kick-start[ing] the Paralympic movement in the country". He helped establish a national Paralympic centre in 2002, and ensured that Ukrainian Paralympians were granted a specific budget, which sports official Karina Matiazh said was Ukraine's "biggest achievement. [...] [W]e have separate budgets for the Olympics and the Paralympics, whereas most other countries just get whatever bits and pieces are left over from their Olympic budget". Four-time Paralympic swimming champion Maksym Veraksa described Sushkevych as "a father figure" concerned with "each and every athlete".^[8]

Lviv Today noted in 2010 that "Ukraine’s Paralympic team has experienced a major boost in the amount of training and support it receives in recent years", resulting in "extraordinary" progress at the Winter Games in particular: "[F]rom finishing 18th in Salt Lake City in 2002, Ukraine rose to 3rd (2nd in terms of actual number of medals won) four years after in Turin.^[9] The China Daily in 2008 remarked that, in terms of the proportion of its medals in relation to the number of its athletes, Ukraine was "clearly punching above its weight".^[10] New Disability notes: "The only country which has consistently been amongst the top medal winners in both recent summer and winter Paralympic Games is Ukraine. This is due to a major strategy by Ukraine to support Paralympic Athletes".^[11]

Among Ukraine's most successful athletes is Viktor Smyrnov, who won five gold medals (as well as a silver and a bronze) in swimming (disability category 11) at the 2004 Summer Games.^[12] Ukraine also won the men's football 7-a-side competition at the 2004 Games, and successfully defended their title in 2008. Ukrainians have, in addition, won gold medals in track and field, cross-country skiing and biathlon, as well as one in powerlifting in 2004 (Lidiya Solovyova in the women's up to 40 kg) and one in wheelchair fencing that same year (Andriy Komar in the men's épée individual, category B).^[13][14]

Source:^[15][16]

Medals by Summer Games edit Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1960–1988 part of the Soviet Union   Barcelona 1992 part of the Unified Team   Atlanta 1996 30 1 4 2 7 44   Sydney 2000 67 3 20 14 37 35   Athens 2004 90 24 12 19 55 6   Beijing 2008 117 24 18 32 74 4   London 2012 148 32 24 28 84 4   Rio de Janeiro 2016 172 41 37 39 117 3   Tokyo 2020 138 24 47 27 98 6 Total 149 162 161 472 14

Medals by Winter Games edit Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1976–1988 part of the Soviet Union   Albertville 1992 part of the Unified Team   Lillehammer 1994 did not participate   Nagano 1998 11 3 2 4 9 14   Salt Lake City 2002 10 0 6 6 12 18   Turin 2006 12 7 9 9 25 3   Vancouver 2010 19 5 8 6 19 4   Sochi 2014 23 5 9 11 25 4   Pyeongchang 2018 22 7 7 8 25 6   Beijing 2022 20 11 10 8 29 2 Total 38 51 52 141 10

Medals by summer sport edit Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total   Swimming 83 80 80 243   Athletics 38 56 44 138   Judo 4 4 12 20   Powerlifting 4 2 3 9   Cycling 4 2 1 7   Wheelchair fencing 3 5 6 14   Table tennis 3 3 8 14   Football 7-a-side 3 2 0 5   Rowing 3 1 1 5   Shooting 2 3 5 10   Paracanoeing 2 3 0 5   Archery 0 1 0 1   Volleyball 0 0 1 1 Totals (13 entries) 149 162 161 472

Medals by winter sport edit Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total   Biathlon 22 28 27 77   Cross-country skiing 16 23 25 64 Totals (2 entries) 38 51 52 141

• Ukraine at the Olympics