Guatemala have been irregular participants in the Paralympic Games. The country made its début at the

1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics (french: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 4 t ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, with a delegation of eleven athletes to compete in archery,

dartchery Dartchery (a combination of darts and archery which uses a dart board instead of a standard archery target) was contested at the Summer Paralympic Games from 1960 to 1980. Competitions were carried out in pairs: mixed pairs from 1960 to 1980, and ...

, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting. It was then absent in 1980, and returned in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, with a delegation of two swimmers and two weightlifters. It sent a single weightlifter to the 1988 Games, then was absent for sixteen years, before returning for the 2004 Paralympics, represented by two runners. Visually impaired 5,000m runner

César López César López Giraldo (born 1973) is a classically trained musician, composer, producer guitarist and pianist from Bogota, Colombia. In 2003, López founded the Battalion of Immediate Artistic Reaction which involves various musicians and activis ...

was the sole Guatemalan competitor in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Guatemala has never taken part in the

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

. Guatemalans have, however, won two Paralympic medals. Weightlifter J.R. de Leon won his country's only medal during its inaugural participation in 1976, lifting 150 kg in the men's

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

category, to take bronze. Guatemala's first (and so far only) gold medal also came in weightlifting, and was won by José Rolando, the only Guatemalan representative at the 1988 Games. Competing in the up to 57 kg category, he lifted 175 kg to become Paralympic champion.Guatemala at the Paralympics
International Paralympic Committee

List of medallists

References

{{Paralympic-nation-stub

List of medallists

See also

References