The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games marked one of Team GB’s most successful performances in the history of the competition. China topped the medal table once again, but Team GB’s performance in Paris showed world-class skill across a wide range of disciplines.
This success – 49 gold medals, 44 silver and 31 bronze – follows on from similarly strong performances in the Tokyo 2020 and London 2012 Paralympics, where Team GB also finished among the top nations. Even by the team’s high standards, they outperformed themselves in Paris.
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USA, who finished top of the medals table with 126 at the Paris 2024 Olympics, of which 40 were gold, finished the Paralympics third with 105 medals, of which 36 were gold. Despite finishing third, the US were nowhere near the top of the Paralympic table.
China finished with 220 medals (94 gold). Team GB finished far ahead of Team USA, and neither team was anywhere near China’s staggering tally.
Team GB’s strength is their range of success, winning medals in 18 of the 19 events they contested and 117 athletes in the 215-strong squad finished the games with a medal. Of the 81 newcomers to the games from Team GB, 37 made the podium. This shows that the foundations of the nation’s Paralympic set-up are proving successful.
Over the course of the Paris Cycle, UK Sport has invested £315 million ($415.24 million) of government and National Lottery funds across 53 Olympic and Paralympic Sports.
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By GlobalDataWithout knowing the full breakdown between Olympic and Paralympic funding, it is clear from the graph below that each Paralympic cycle has seen a growth in investment from UK Sport, which in turn has correlated with the team’s success.
China’s success can be largely attributed to the country’s investment in Paralympic sports. The addition of extensive training facilities and a large athlete pool allows them to consistently top the media table.
With 85 million people with disabilities in China, the country has adopted policies to eradicate extreme poverty and tackle inequality. As part of these efforts, support for people with disabilities has increased in recent years in the country. Opportunity and accessibility have provided the foundations for Paralympic dominance.
On the other hand, Team USA are not achieving the dominance that once was evident. Between 1976 and 1996, Team USA topped the medal table at every Paralympic Games.
Additionally, the US are the all-time record holder for most overall and gold Paralympic medals, largely due to the nation’s dominance during this period.
One of the main reasons for the US’s decline in Paralympic success since 1996 is the rapid growth of para sports. Countries like Ukraine, with a population around a tenth that of the US and a GDP less than 1% of the size, have finished above the US in two games since 1996.
Team USA sent only the fourth-largest group in 2024, which by population is far less than would be expected; this has unsurprisingly impacted their medal count. There has certainly been a Paralympic movement in recent decades, which has made the games much more competitive and seen other countries able to increase their medal haul.
To put it into perspective, finishing third in the medals table at the Paralympics would be a celebration for most nations, but for the US, this has been met with questions and blaming.
In terms of global dominance, the US and China have battled for top spot at the Olympics, however, when it comes to the Paralympics, China is far superior.
There have been questions regarding the visibility of the 2024 Paralympic Games in the US, but according to NBC’s unprecedented coverage of this year’s edition, it generated numerous US viewership milestones, reaching a Paralympic record 15.4 million total viewers across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, and Telemundo.
The Paris Games also saw the second most-watched Paralympics telecast and the most-watched Paralympics cable telecast on record. Therefore, interest and visibility did not seem to be a problem this year across the US, especially looking ahead to the LA 2028 Olympics, there may have even been heightened attention.
As mentioned, Team GB has seen a considerable increase in funding for each Paralympic cycle, this has been an issue for the US team. Unlike their competitors, US para-athletes, apart from Paralympic military veterans who get central government support, rely entirely on commercial sponsorship to pay for their training and living costs.
When comparing this to China, their funding is limitless. As their disabled athletes majorly emerge from poorer, rural areas, China can maximise their talent identification with many of their athletes entering Paralympic programmes early in life.
With this being said, it is worth mentioning that China’s success has been met with much scepticism. This has largely been driven by allegations of ‘classification manipulation’, where athletes’ disabilities are misrepresented. This allows their athletes to outperform other athletes who have more significant impairments.
China’s dominance across Paralympic sport may be up for grabs, with the hope that the LA Paralympics in 2028 may boost the success of para sport in the US. Hosting the games has the potential to shift the narrative.
Both China and the UK, when hosting the games in Beijing and London, saw a surge in public interest and Paralympic success in the lead-up to and following their hosting of the games.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has set a goal of raising $500 million – a campaign set to propel Team USA toward unprecedented success at the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The USOPC has also made it clear that support from the American public is vital for the USA team to be successful at their home games, even more so for the Paralympics where they have struggled over recent years.
Investment is key – as has been evident from China and GB’s success. Will the LA 2028 Paralympics see China’s global dominance ended?
As both China and GB have experienced, hosting the games has enabled greater Paralympic success in the long-term as the foundations have been put in place, whilst also having the funding support.
