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The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international
multi-sport A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the
International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
(IPC). Originally scheduled to take place from 25 August to 6 September 2020, both the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
and Paralympics were postponed by a year in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, with the rescheduled Games still referred to as ''Tokyo 2020'' for marketing and branding purposes. As with the Olympics, the Games were largely held behind closed doors with no outside spectators due to a state of emergency in the
Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...
and other prefectures. The Games were the second Summer Paralympics hosted by Tokyo since
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, and the third Paralympics held in Japan overall since the 1998 Winter Paralympics in
Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...
. Due to the postponement of the Paralympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also the first (and only) Paralympic Games to be held in an odd-numbered year and the first Summer Paralympics to be held in a non-leap year. The Games featured 539 medal events in 22 sports, with
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
and
taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
both making their Paralympic debut to replace
football 7-a-side Cerebral palsy football, also called ''7-a-side football'' or formerly ''Paralympic football'', is an adaptation of association football for athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke and traumatic brain injur ...
and
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
.
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
topped the medal table for the fifth consecutive Paralympics, with 96 golds and 207 total medals.
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
finished second for the ninth time, with 41 golds and 124 total medals. The
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
finished third, with 37 golds, their best finish since the 2008 games, and 104 total medals. The
Russian Paralympic Committee The Russian Paralympic Committee (russian: Паралимпийский комитет России) is the National Paralympic Committee representing Russia. History The Russian Paralympic Committee was founded in 1996. On 7 August 2016, i ...
finished fourth, with a total of 36 golds and 118 total medals, putting them in third place when ranked by total medals.


Bids

The host of the 2020 Summer Olympics would also host the 2020 Summer Paralympics, according to a 2001 agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee. At the 125th IOC Session, Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics via a tie-breaker in the second round of voting.


Preparations


Transport

Ahead of the 2016 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony, Governor of Tokyo
Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...
advocated for the city to improve its
accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
as a legacy project for the Games. She cited narrow roadways with no sidewalks, buildings constructed with narrow doorways, and low ceilings, as challenges that needed to be overcome. In particular, she called for a transition to underground power lines to facilitate the widening of roads. A number of Toyota e-Palette self-driving vehicles had been adapted to provide transport to athletes in the Paralympic Games village. On 27 August, however, the use of the vehicles was suspended after one collided with an athlete before all vehicles were re-used 3 days later.


Volunteers

In September 2018, applications to be volunteers at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were released. By January 2019 186,101 applications had been received. Interviews to whittle the numbers down began in February 2019 and training taking place in October 2019. The volunteers at the venues were known as "Field Cast" and the volunteers in the city were known as "City Cast". These names were chosen from a shortlist of four out of an original 149 pairs of names. The other shortlisted names were "Shining Blue and Shining Blue Tokyo", "Games Anchor and City Anchor" and "Games Force and City Force". The names were chosen by the people who had applied to be volunteers at the games.


Medals

The designs of the medals for the 2020 Summer Paralympics were unveiled on 25 August 2019; as with the Olympic medals, they are constructed using recycled metals that were obtained through an
electronics recycling Electronic waste or e-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste. Inform ...
programme. The medals feature a design inspired by traditional folding hand fans to symbolise the shared experience of the Paralympics; alternating
sectors Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...
containing textured areas visually and tactually depict flowers, leaves, rocks, water and wood to symbolise the geology of Japan. The pivot where the fan meets is stated to symbolise the unity of Paralympic athletes. The obverse of the medal contains an untextured version of the fan pattern, the Paralympic emblem, and inscriptions in
braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
. To aid those with visual impairments, the edges and ribbons of the medals contain one, two, or three circular indentations and silicone convex dots for gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively so that they can be easily identified by touch.


Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 Summer Olympics were largely held behind closed doors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and a state of emergency in Tokyo issued by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Yoshihide Suga is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2020 to 2021. He had served as Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fro ...
, though events in some regions could be held with up to 10,000 spectators or 50% capacity (whichever is smaller) if they were not subject to a state of emergency. The declaration was originally in effect from 12 July through 22 August 2021 (two days before the Paralympic opening ceremony); on 2 August, citing worsening rates of infection, Suga announced that the existing state of emergency would be extended through 31 August, and expanded to several other prefectures (including three that neighbour Tokyo). New daily cases in Tokyo reached over 4,000 by 11 August 2021; it was anticipated that no public spectators would be admitted during the Paralympics in Tokyo and other affected regions, as with the Olympics. Organizers discussed other options for some form of spectator presence, such as inviting local school students to attend events (a program which was also employed during the Olympics, and largely scaled back due to the pandemic). It was later confirmed that there would be no public spectators at venues in the Tokyo,
Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
, and Saitama prefectures. On 19 August, the state of emergency was extended through 12 September 2021, and expanded to include
Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...
. On 20 August 2021, Tokyo Organizing Committee delivery officer Hidemasa Nakamura stated that the biosecurity protocols for the Paralympics had been expanded upon those from the Olympics due to the increased vulnerability to COVID-19 among its athletes, but that Tokyo was facing deteriorating hospital capacity, and that "It’s a fight against time so we need to make sure that sufficient communication is taken at a speedy manner."
Paula Tesoriero Paula Margaret Tesoriero (born 29 August 1975 in Wellington) is a former New Zealand paralympics racing cyclist and senior public servant. Early life Tesoriero was born with amniotic band syndrome, which caused mobility issues. She got her ...
of the New Zealand delegation stated that the Tokyo Organizing Committee and IPC had "worked tirelessly to create the safest and secure environment possible with a focus on continuing to stay vigilant". On 4 September, after four consecutive days without any new COVID-19 cases within the Paralympic
bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying funda ...
, the IPC commended the Tokyo Organizing Committee for their work in handling the pandemic, with a spokesperson stating that "the amount of work that has gone in behind the scenes to deliver what you have seen over the past three weeks has been phenomenal."


Torch relay

The details of the torch relay route were announced on 21 November 2019. There was a Heritage Flame Celebration that was held in
Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil p ...
. and flame lighting festivals that took place in 43 of Japan's 47
prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
between 13 and 17 August 2020. In the second phase of the relay, another 4 rituals were performed in the 3 other prefectures that were jointly hosting the events with Tokyo between 18 to 20 August throughout the three prefectures that co-hosted Paralympic events during the run-up to the Paralympic Opening Ceremony and the last day the Tokyo Prefecture torch was lit. The flames from each of the flame lighting festivals hosted in each prefecture were brought together in Tokyo.On the night of August 21st,at the front of the
Akasaka Palace , or the , is one of the two state guest houses of the Government of Japan. The other state guesthouse is the Kyoto State Guest House. The palace was originally built as the in 1909. Today the palace is designated by the Government of Japan a ...
all the 48 flames were unified and the third and last phase of the relay began and lasted 4 days. This rote was the same used for the last legs of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay. Aluminium was taken from temporary housing in
Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...
to make the torches for the Olympic and Paralympic flames. More than 10,000 pieces of aluminium were used and organizers contacted local authorities to see which houses were no longer being used.


The Games


Sports

The 2020 Summer Paralympics featured 539 events in 22 sports.
Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
and
taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
made their Paralympic debut in Tokyo, while classifications were added or realigned in other sports; canoe, shooting, table tennis, track cycling, and wheelchair fencing saw increases in the number of medal events held, while there were reductions in athletics and swimming.


New sports

In January 2014, the IPC began accepting bids for new sports to be added to the Paralympic programme. Six sports were reported to have made bids, including
amputee football Amputee football is a disabled sport played with seven players on each team (six outfield players and one goalkeeper). Outfield players have lower extremity amputations, and goalkeepers have an upper extremity amputation. Outfield players use lof ...
,
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
, power hockey, powerchair football, and
taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
. New disciplines were also proposed in existing events, including
3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 ...
(in wheelchair and ID classifications), and visually impaired
match racing A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...
and one-person multi-hull in
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
. On 31 January 2015, the IPC officially announced that badminton and taekwondo had been added to the Paralympic programme for 2020. They replaced
football 7-a-side Cerebral palsy football, also called ''7-a-side football'' or formerly ''Paralympic football'', is an adaptation of association football for athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke and traumatic brain injur ...
and sailing. which were dropped due to an insufficient international reach.


Participating National Paralympic Committee teams

On 9 December 2019, the
World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
(WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for a period of four years, after the Russian government was found to have tampered with lab data that it provided to WADA in January 2019 as a condition of the
Russian Anti-Doping Agency The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; russian: Российское антидопинговое агентство, РУСАДА), established in January 2008, is the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspen ...
being reinstated. On 26 April 2021, it was confirmed Russian athletes would represent the
Russian Paralympic Committee The Russian Paralympic Committee (russian: Паралимпийский комитет России) is the National Paralympic Committee representing Russia. History The Russian Paralympic Committee was founded in 1996. On 7 August 2016, i ...
, with the acronym 'RPC'. At least five countries withdrew from the Games due to COVID-19-related concerns, including
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
(which declined to participate in either the Olympics or Paralympics), as well as
Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...
,
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
,
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
, and
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
due to budgetary concerns tied to
COVID-19 travel restrictions During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other travel restrictions for citizens of or recent travelers to the most affected areas. Some countries and regions imposed global restrictions th ...
. Absent direct flights to Japan, the four countries' athletes would have had to travel to Tokyo via
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
as international borders to those countries for non-residents had been closed since March 2020, and would be subject to 14-day quarantine periods before their flight to Japan, and on their way back to their home countries. On 16 August 2021,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
(representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) withdrew from the Games due to violence and instability in the country following the Taliban's capture of Kabul, which left their team of
Zakia Khudadadi Zakia Khudadadi also spelt as Zakia Khodadadi ( ps, ذکیه خدادادی; born 29 September 1998) is an Afghan parataekwondo practitioner. She is the first Afghan female taekwondo practitioner. She rose to prominence after winning the African ...
(taekwondo) and Hossain Rasouli (athletics) unable to travel to Tokyo. Their national flag was still paraded during the opening ceremony as a signal of solidarity. However, after a "major global operation", the two athletes were successfully evacuated to France, where they trained at
INSEP INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance), is a French training institute and center for excellence in sports that trains elite athletes. It is located on th ...
in Paris before arriving in a flight with the Paris 2024 delegation in Tokyo on 28 August. IPC president Andrew Parsons stated that the team would not be allowed to interact with other athletes at the village would they be available to the media—having been given special permission to skip press conferences. Rasouli missed the event where he was originally intended to compete, the men's 100m T47. After declining an offer to compete in the 400m event as an alternative, Rasouli accepted an extra spot in the men's long jump T47. The following 162 teams qualified at least one athlete. Six of them,
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
,
Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
,
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
,
Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
,
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, and
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
, made their debut appearances at the Paralympic Games. Two of them returned to the Games after not sending delegations in 2016:
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
(that for the first time in its history it had not classified its athletes for the Games) along with
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
(who had classified athletes for the last time in
Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
).


Number of athletes by National Paralympic Committee

4,403
athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
s from 162
NPCs A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
: Ranking listed by number of athletes.


Test events

There were test events before the Olympic and Paralympic Games; these were contested from June 2019 to June 2020 before the start of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The selected Paralympic sports were
athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
(2–3 May 2020),
goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...
(28–29 September 2019),
paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, ...
(15–18 August 2019),
powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...
(26–27 September 2019),
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
(16 April 2020) and
wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US na ...
(12–15 March 2020). It was announced in February 2019 that test events would be under the banner "Ready, Steady, Tokyo". 22 of the 56 events would be organised by the Tokyo organising committee and the rest by national and international organisations. World Sailing's World Cup Series, held at Enoshima, was the first test event, while the last the Tokyo Challenge Track Meet in May 2020. All test events scheduled after 12 March 2020 were postponed due to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Medal summary


Podium sweeps

There were five
podium sweep A podium sweep is where a team or nation comes in first, second and third, such as at the Olympics, and wins all available medals, which are recognized by a podium ceremony. The word Whitewash (sport), sweep is commonly used in North American sport ...
s, as follows:


Calendar


Venues

The venues for the Paralympic games as detailed on the Tokyo 2020 official website:


Heritage Zone

* Japan National Stadium (Olympic Stadium)
Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
,
Opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...
and closing ceremonies *
Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...
Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
*
Tokyo Equestrian Park The is an Equestrianism, equestrian sport venue located in Setagaya, Tokyo. The venue is owned by the Japan Racing Association and is a public park all year round, known familiarly as 'Horse Park'. It was constructed in 1940 for the Olympics, bu ...
Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
*
Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo Int ...
Powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...
*
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium is a sporting complex in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1954 for the World Wrestling Championship, it was also used as the venue for gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and hosted the table tennis competition at the 2020 Summe ...
Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
*
Yoyogi National Stadium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and ...
Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
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Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US na ...
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Musashino Forest Sport Plaza The Musashino Forest Sport Plaza is a multi-sport venue located in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The main arena has a seating capacity of over 10,000, and also includes a swimming pool, a gym, a multi-use sports area and two fitness studios, that is ...
Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
(secondary venue)


Tokyo Bay Zone

* Aomi Urban Sports Venue
Football 5-a-side Paralympic football consists of adaptations of the sport of association football for athletes with a physical disability. These sports are typically played using International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rules, with modifications to ...
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Ariake Arena The Ariake Arena is a multi-sport venue located in Ariake, Tokyo, Ariake, Tokyo, Japan. It served as the Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics, volleyball venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the Wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Summer Paraly ...
Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
(main venue) * Ariake Tennis Park
Wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, ...
* Dream Island Archery Park
Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
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Makuhari Messe is a Japanese convention center outside Tokyo, located in the Mihama-ku ward of Chiba City, in the northwest corner of Chiba Prefecture. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuhari'' is the name of ...
Goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...
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Sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game. History Sitting volleyball was inve ...
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Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
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Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with a disability. Wheelchair fencing is governed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation that is a federation of the International Paralympic Committee, and is one o ...
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Odaiba Marine Park today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge (Tokyo), Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dram ...
Paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, ...
*Tokyo Aquatics Centre – Swimming at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Swimming *Ariake Gymnastics Centre – Boccia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Boccia *Tokyo Gate Bridge, Sea Forest Waterway – Rowing at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Rowing, Paracanoeing at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Paracanoe


Venues outside 10 km area

* Asaka Shooting Range – Shooting at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Shooting * Izu Velodrome – Cycling at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Track cycling * Fuji Speedway – Cycling at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Road cycling


Non-competition venues

* Harumi Futo – Paralympic Village * Tokyo Big Sight Conference Tower – International Media and Broadcast Centre


Marketing


Logo

The emblems of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled on 25 April 2016. The Paralympic emblem features a hand fan in a circle form, filled with an indigo-colored checkerboard pattern. The design is meant to "express a refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan". The designs replaced a previous emblem which had been scrapped due to allegations that it Concerns and controversies at the 2020 Summer Olympics#Logo plagiarism, plagiarized the logo of the Théâtre de Liège in Belgium.


Mascot

The shortlist of mascots for the Tokyo Games was unveiled on 7 December 2017 and the winning entry was announced on 28 February 2018. Candidate pair A, created by Ryo Taniguchi, received the most votes (109,041) and was declared the winner, defeating Kana Yano's pair B (61,423 votes) and Sanae Akimoto's pair C (35,291 votes). Someity is a figure with pink chequered patterns inspired by the Games' official logo, as well as cherry blossom flowers. It has a calm but powerful ability, it is nature-loving, and it speaks to the wind. Both Miraitowa and Someity were named by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Organising Committee on 22 July 2018.


Animated shorts

Japanese public broadcaster NHK produced a series of short films called ''Animation x Paralympic: Who Is Your Hero?'' Each short features a different Paralympic sport, and is designed and produced in collaboration with well-known creators of anime and manga, sometimes featuring crossovers with popular series or with real-life athletes.


Broadcasting

The International Paralympic Committee anticipated that the 2020 Summer Paralympics would be seen by a global audience of at least 4.25 billion viewers, an increase over the estimated 4.1 billion of the 2016 Games. Japanese broadcaster NHK aired coverage of selected events in 8K resolution, 8K. In markets without and with a dedicated rightsholder, the IPC streamed the Games on its YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts. In the United Kingdom, these were third Summer Paralympics to be broadcast by Channel 4, which planned to air at least 300 hours of coverage on free-to-air TV (with More4 to be dedicated primarily to team events), 1,200 hours of coverage via streaming, as well as an evening highlights program and ''The Last Leg'' nightly. The broadcaster launched a trailer directed by Bradford Young entitled "Super. Human." in mid-July 2021, which aimed to focus on the "realities" of the lives of Paralympic athletes, and "the sacrifices they make in pursuit of greatness". In the United States, NBC Olympic broadcasts, NBCUniversal aired 1,200 hours of coverage on NBCSN and Olympic Channel (United States), Olympic Channel, while NBC broadcast five highlights programs over the course of the Games and afterward (with three airing in primetime), which "[showcased] the incredible backstories of the athletes and teams competing in Tokyo". Canadian media rights was once again led by the CBC Olympic broadcasts, CBC, with 120 hours of television coverage, along with broadcasts by Sportsnet and AMI-tv. In Australia, the Seven Network offered one free-to-air channel broadcast via either their Seven Network, Channel 7 or 7mate channels and up to 16 free streaming channels via the online 7plus service. In New Zealand, the Games were broadcast by TVNZ Duke. TVNZ faced criticism for the scale of its coverage, including a lack of streaming coverage, and the TVNZ broadcast and Olympic Broadcasting Services, OBS world feed missing coverage of events involving local athletes. On 2 September, citing the criticism, TVNZ announced that it would waive the geoblocking for the IPC's official streams on YouTube. In India, Eurosport India and Discovery+ debuted as a new local rightsholder, focusing on coverage of events involving Indian athletes. For the first time in Chile, the Paralympics were broadcast on Televisión Nacional de Chile, TVN. In Brazil, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games were broadcast on Grupo Globo platforms Sportv, Globoplay and for the first time some events was broadcast live on Rede Globo free-to-air channel at late nights and early mornings. The games were sublicensed to a public broadcasters consortium led by TV Brasil and TV Cultura. In Malaysia, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games were broadcast on Astro Arena (TV channel), Astro Arena HD channel 801. In Singapore, selected live events were telecast on Channel 5 (Singaporean TV channel), Mediacorp Channel 5 while the rest of the coverage was streamed on meWATCH. Selected highlights also appeared on the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel. In the Philippines, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games were broadcast on cable channel TAP Sports and was streamed online on TAP Digital Media Ventures Corporation#TAP Go, TAP Go.


Concerns and controversies


Student attendees and COVID-19

Tokyo governor
Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...
pressed ahead for students to be allowed to attend the Paralympics with the Paralympic organizing committee in Tokyo arguing "it's important to have students view athletes with disabilities" for their education on disability. This has been remarked on due to their being a state of emergency in Tokyo concerning the illness. Chiba Prefecture later dropped from the program due to two teachers being found to have COVID-19 infections.


Assault by a member of the Georgian team

The reining judo paralympic champion from Georgia, Zviad Gogotchuri, was arrested after assaulting a security guard at a Tokyo hotel on 16 August 2021. The visually impaired judoka from Georgia (country), Georgia was later ejected from the games.


Men's judo 81 kg

Japan's Aramitsu Kitazono was scheduled to compete in the round of 16 events of the Judo at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Men's 81 kg, men's 81 kg category. However, he was forced to withdraw at the last minute, two days before his scheduled event after sustaining injuries to his head and legs during an incident that happened on 26 August 2021 at the Harumi Futo, Paralympics Village. It was revealed Aramitsu was hit by a Toyota concept vehicles (2010–2019)#e-Palette (2018), Toyota e-Palette driverless vehicle, which was under manual control by an operator, when he was walking on the pedestrian crossing. His opponent Dmytro Solovey of Ukraine automatically qualified to the quarterfinals as a result of Aramitsu's late withdrawal.


Men's shot put (F20) final

Malaysian shot putter (Developmental disability, F20 class), Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, arrived three minutes late for the event but was cleared to compete. In this event on 31 August 2021, he originally won the gold medal in the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Men's shot put#F20, men's shot put F20 event, thus defending his title in Rio 2016 and breaking a new world record. However after the event had finished, his gold was stripped after a protest from the Ukrainian delegation, citing that Ziyad came late to the call room. Other than Ziyad, Australian Todd Hodgetts, Todd Hodgets and Ecuadorian Jordi Villalba were also disqualified from the event for 'Failure to Report to the Call Room'. Later, Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister, Ahmad Faizal Azumu issued a statement via his Twitter account, stating that the National Paralympic Committees of Malaysia, Australia, and Ecuador has made a joint-counter protest to opposing the protest made by the Ukrainian delegation. However, the appeal from three NPC's has been rejected, and Ukrainian Maksym Koval (athlete), Maksym Koval remains as the gold medal winner. After the events, some social media accounts from Ukraine have been spammed by hateful comments from Malaysia, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's Instagram account. Koval's Instagram account has also been hacked by Malaysian cyber troopers due to the result. This action caused the official Facebook account of the Ukrainian Embassy to Malaysia to be deactivated, and the Embassy's official Twitter account has been set to private.


Other incidents

Forty officers from , who were tasked to support local police at venues and to control traffic during the Games, were removed from duty by Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) and sent home following numerous incidents. This included visiting brothels, drinking in their dormitories (which is against regulations) and in bars surrounding Kinshichō Station, Sumida, Tokyo, Sumida, which then descended into drunken brawls with civilian bystanders. That latter incident led the TMPD to intervene, which led to the officers being caught.


See also

*
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
*WeThe15, #WeThe15 *Upper-class citizen


Notes


References


External links


Tokyo 2020 on the International Paralympic Committee website

Tokyo 2020 Official Homepage
{{NPCsin2020SummerParalympics 2020 Summer Paralympics, 2021 in Japanese sport, Paralympics 2021 in multi-sport events, Summer Paralympics 2021 in disability sport 2021 in Tokyo August 2021 sports events in Japan, Paralympics International sports competitions hosted by Japan, Summer Paralympics 2020 Multi-sport events in Japan Summer Paralympic Games Sports competitions in Tokyo Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paralympics September 2021 sports events in Japan, Paralympics