Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
has been competing at the
Paralympic Games since the country
became independent in 1980; it had previously competed
as Rhodesia. Zimbabwe was absent from the Games in 1988 and 1992, returning in 1996 with a two-man delegation, and has competed at every edition of the
Summer Paralympics since then. It has never taken part in the
Winter Paralympics.
[Zimbabwe at the Paralympics](_blank)
International Paralympic Committee
Zimbabweans have won a total of 2 gold medals, 9 silver, and 6 bronze. The country's most successful year, by far, was 1980, when Zimbabweans won 8 silver medals and 4 bronze - all but two won by
Sandra James
Sandra James is a Zimbabwean former athlete, who won eleven medals across four different sports at the Paralympic Games.
1972: representing Rhodesia
James initially represented Rhodesia at the 1972 Summer Paralympics, competing in athletics and ...
and
Eileen Robertson
Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to:
People Artists
*Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer
*Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer
*Eileen ...
, across events in several sports. Zimbabwe's first gold medal was won by
Elliot Mujaji in 2000, in the 100m sprint (T46 category). Mujaji won Zimbabwe's second (and most recent) Paralympic gold medal in the same event four years later. Zimbabwe have since failed to win any medals after 2004.
The
Zimbabwe National Paralympic Committee was only officially launched and registered in 2010. Prior to this, "the government provided financial aid during the Paralympic Games,
utthere was no co-ordinated mechanism to maintain athletes' momentum between the Games", and athletes "had to find their own sponsor, coach and manager who would finance the training, travelling and their participation at competitions".
"About us: History"
, Zimbabwe National Paralympic Committee
Medals by Summer Games
Medalists
See also
* Rhodesia at the Paralympics
Rhodesia was one of the participants at the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where one of its two representatives was Margaret Harriman, in swimming and archery. The country took part in every edition of the Summer Paralympics until 197 ...
* Zimbabwe at the Olympics
References
{{Paralympic-nation-stub