Bronze medalist, Pavlo Bal of Team Ukraine celebrates following the Men's H5 Road Race on day eight of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, France, on Sep. 5, 2024. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Ukrainian athletes have won 82 medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, securing seventh place in the medal score, as the competition wrapped up on Sept. 8.
Ukraine’s medal count includes 22 gold, 28 silver, and 31 bronze medals.
China topped the list this year with 220 medals, followed by the U.K., the U.S., the Netherlands, Brazil, and Italy.
The Ukrainian team was represented by 140 athletes – the smallest number in 16 years.
Training amid air raid alerts and ongoing Russian attacks, Ukrainian Paralympians qualified for Paralympic events in 17 out of 22 sports.
For the first time, Ukraine competed in hand cycling and boccia, with Ukrainian athletes winning medals in these disciplines in their debut attempt.
Ukrainians reached the final in goalball for the first time, broke several world and European records in swimming and athletics, and competed in sitting volleyball for the first time in eight years, with two veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the team.
"You cannot imagine the strength of spirit and will to win that we have put into our boys and girls," Valeriy Sushkevych, the president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, told Suspilne.
"We are exhausted, but we are winners. And Ukraine is definitely winning."
Ukrainian Paralympic team in Paris, France on Aug. 28, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Andrii Demchuk, 36, from Lviv, competes in the bronze medal match in men's wheelchair fencing, sabre A, during Paris Paralympics in France, on Sep. 3, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Iryna Shynkarova and Viktor Didukh play in mixed double para table tennis during Paris Paralympics in France on Aug. 29, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Vladyslav Zahrebelnyi, 32, from Dnipro, competes in the 100-meter race - T37 division during Paris Paralympics in France, on Aug. 30, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)The Ukrainian Men’s Sitting Volleyball team prepares to face off Germany in the first round of the tournament during Paris Paralympics in France on Sep. 1, 2024 (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Vladyslav Zahrebelnyi of team Ukraine competes during the Men's Long Jump T37 Final on day six of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Stade de France in Paris, France on Sep. 3, 2024. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)Ihor Nimchekno of team Ukraine competes during the Men's 100m Butterfly - S10 Final on day six of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France on Sep. 3, 2024. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)Vasyl Petruniv, 50, from Ivan-Frankivsk, competes in the s3 division of para table tennis in the round of 16 against Germany at Paris Paralympics in France, on Sep. 2, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Ukrainian goalball team competes against Iran during Paris Paralympics. Ukraine won 6-3 and went on to win a silver medal in Paris, France on Sep. 2, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Nataliia Konenko, 34, from Lviv, is playing boccia in the preliminary round versus Egypt during Paris Paralympics in France, on Aug. 29, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)Hélios Latchoumanaya of Team France attempts to throw Oleksandr Nazarenko of Team Ukraine during the Men's Para Judo 90kg-J2 Gold Medal Match on day ten of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Champs-de-Mars Arena in Paris, France on Sep. 7, 2024. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)Gold medalist Ihor Tsvietov of Team Ukraine celebrates after the Men's 100m - T35 Final day five of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at the Stade de France in Paris, France on Sep. 2, 2024. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)The Ukrainian Men’s Sitting Volleyball team against Germany in the first round of the tournament against Germany in Paris, France on Sep. 1, 2024. (Christopher Occhicone / Ukrainian Paralympic Committee)
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.Read more
Kate Tsurkan
