Portugal at the Paralympics

Portugal made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics (two years before the Carnation Revolution), where it was represented solely by a men's team in wheelchair basketball. They were eliminated at the preliminary stage of the competition, with one victory (over Switzerland) and three defeats. Portugal was then absent from the Paralympic Games until the 1984 Summer Games, where its athletes won the country's first fourteen medals, including three gold in track and field and one in boccia. Portugal has competed at every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but -almost uniquely among Western European countries^[1]- has never taken part in the Winter Games.^[2]

Portuguese athletes have won a total of 101 Paralympic medals, of which 27 gold, 31 silver and 43 bronze. The country's best performance came in 2000, when it won 15 medals (of which 6 gold) and ranked 26th.^[3]

Row in gold background is a sport in which they are leading in i.e. won most world championship titles.

• Portugal at the Olympics