Ukraine at the Paralympics

Paralympic success

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.

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).

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.

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".

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. 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". 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".

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. 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).

Medals

Source:

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by summer sport

Medals by winter sport

Multi-medalists

Ukrainian athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five or more medals of any colour.

Summer Paralympics

Winter Paralympics

References

References

1. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=UKR&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=all Ukraine at the Paralympics], [[International Paralympic Committee]]
2. [https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/disability-sport/19391532 Paralympics: What is the secret of Ukraine's success?], [[BBC News]] (30 August 2012)
3. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=UKR&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=all Ukraine at the Paralympics], International Paralympic Committee
4. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=UKR&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=all Ukraine at the Paralympics], International Paralympic Committee
5. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/reports.html?type=medalstandings&games=2008PG&sport=all "Medal Standings: Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games"], International Paralympic Committee
6. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=UKR&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=all Ukraine at the Paralympics], International Paralympic Committee
7. [https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings "Medal Standings: Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games"], International Paralympic Committee
8. [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/paralympics/2008-09/17/content_7034454.htm "Ukraine punches above its weight"], ''[[China Daily]]'', September 17, 2008
9. [http://www.lvivtoday.com.ua/lviv-sports/1817 "Paralympic hopefuls preparing for Vancouver"] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-16 , ''[[Lviv Today]]'', February 2010)
10. [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/paralympics/2008-09/17/content_7034454.htm "Ukraine punches above its weight"], ''China Daily'', September 17, 2008
11. [http://www.newdisability.com/paralympics.htm "Who Are The Major Players Of The Paralympics?"] {{Webarchive. link. (2021-02-26 , ''New Disability'')
12. "Viktor Smyrnov". [[International Paralympic Committee]].
13. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=UKR&gender=all&medal=gold&sport=all&games=all Gold medallists for Ukraine at the Paralympics], International Paralympic Committee
14. "IPC Historical Results Archive; Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games".
15. "NPCS List | Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games".
16. "Team Ukraine - Profile | Tokyo 2020 Paralympics".