Chart Shows War Veterans’ Contribution To U.S. Paralympics Team

During the ongoing 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, 16 veterans join the U.S. team as part of 225 athletes competing for the nation between August 28 and September 8.

There is a longstanding link between the U.S. military and the Paralympics, according to the military publication Stars and Stripes, in particular when it comes to wheelchair football, which was originally used as a rehabilitation activity for veterans.

The concept of the Paralympics dates back to 1948, when they were called the Stoke Mandeville Games. The event was initially an archery competition for veterans across two hospitals that was purposefully kick-started on the day of the Olympics in London, the first Games held after World War II.

Ever since, veterans have played a key role in the U.S. team’s make-up, and in 2004 the committee launched the Paralympic Military Program which has camps and clinics held across the country to introduce injured, wounded, and ill soldiers to paralympic sports in local communities.

Julie Dussliere, the senior vice president and chief of Paralympic Sport for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee told Newsweek, “Veterans have been an integral part of our Paralympic pipeline since the start of the Paralympic Movement.”

She added that Paralympic sport offers “a platform for wounded veterans to move far beyond sport as rehabilitation.”

The chart below shows the number of veterans in each of the Paralympic Games in recent years.

In 2012 in London, 20 veterans competed in the U.S. Paralympic team, in the 2016 Rio games, 30 took part, in the Toyko Paralympics 21 veterans participated, and in the 2008 games in Beijing, there were 16 veterans on the U.S. team.

Over the course of the Paralympic games, U.S. veterans have earned 122 gold medals, according to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Of the veterans on the team who have won medals, 63 have won multiple medals and 34 won multiple gold medals. Overall, athletes on the U.S. Paralympic team have enjoyed a moment on the podium 277 times.

The veterans this year are participating in various sports.

They include Jason Tabansky, a veteran who was posted in Afghanistan and Iraq and is representing the nation in archery; Bobby Body, who lost his leg during a mission in Iraq and will powerlift for the U.S. in this year’s games; and Kevin Nguyen, who had to have his leg amputated after an incident in Afghanistan, will be shooting.

Before the start of the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, the U.S. team as a whole collected a total of 808 gold medals across all the Paralympic events, situating it in first place in global rankings, according to Statista.

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.