Para-sport

Unlike the Paralympic Games and other major sporting events, the para-sport programme at the Commonwealth Games is fully integrated. This means there is no separate event or ticket for para-sport events, and a medal won by a para-athlete in the Men’s T54 Wheelchair 1500m, contributes to a nation’s medal tally in exactly the same way as the Men’s 1500m. 

Events for Athletes with a Disability were first included on the Commonwealth Games programme as an exhibition sport at the Victoria 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada. However, it was at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where para-athletes were fully integrated into their national teams, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport Games. A total of 20 countries sent both male and female elite para-athletes to complete in ten events in five different Para-sports (Athletics, Lawn Bowls, Swimming, Table tennis and Weightlifting). Canadian Chantal Petitclerc won the first ever para-sport medal. 

Today, the sport programme of the Commonwealth Games must, at a minimum, consist of the following compulsory para-sports (disciplines) – Aquatics (Swimming Para), Athletics (Para), Lawn Bowls (Para) and Powerlifting (Para).