Uganda at the Paralympics
Encyclopedia
Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

has competed at both the Summer
Summer Paralympic Games
The Summer Paralympic Games or the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event, where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years,...

 and Winter Paralympic Games
Winter Paralympic Games
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter...

.

The country made its Paralympic début at the 1972 Summer Games
1972 Summer Paralympics
The 1972 Summer Paralympics, the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from August 2 to 11, 1972.- Sports :As with previous Paralympics, the 1972 games were intended for wheelchair athletes only...

 in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, where it sent two male athletes to compete in javelin and shotput. It competed again in 1976
1976 Summer Paralympics
The 1976 Summer Paralympics were the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Toronto, in the province of Ontario, Canada from August 3 to 11, 1976...

, with a single athlete in the men's javelin, then ceased to compete in the Summer Games until 1996
1996 Summer Paralympics
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, USA were held from 16 August to 25 August. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million....

, when it fielded a single male competitor in powerlifting. Since then, Uganda has taken part in every edition of the Summer Paralympic Games, although it had only one representative in 2000
2000 Summer Paralympics
The 2000 Paralympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia, from 18 October to 29 October. The eleventh Summer Paralympic Games, an estimated 3800 athletes took part in the Sydney programme. They commenced with the opening ceremony on 18 October 2000...

 (women's swimming), two in 2004
2004 Summer Paralympics
The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...

 (women's athletics and men's powerlifting), and one in 2008
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

 (men's powerlifting).

Uganda was the only African country to take part in the inaugural edtition of the Winter Paralympics in 1976
1976 Winter Paralympics
The 1976 Winter Paralympic Games were the first Winter Paralympics. They were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden from 21 to 28 February 1976. The disabilities included in this paralympics were blindness and amputees. Sixteen countries took part with 198 athletes...

. It sent only one representative, Tofiri Kibuuka
Tofiri Kibuuka
Tofiri Kibuuka is a Norwegian athlete. Ugandan by birth, he competed for Uganda before obtaining Norwegian citizenship. He has participated in both the Winter Paralympic Games, in cross-country skiing and in the Summer Paralympic Games, in mid- and long distance running...

 in cross-country skiing, who thus became the first African to compete at the Winter Paralympic Games. Uganda was again the only African nation at the 1980 Winter Paralympics
1980 Winter Paralympics
The 1980 Winter Paralympic Games, the second Winter Paralympics, were held from 1 to 7 February 1980 in Geilo, Norway. Eighteen countries took part with 299 athletes. A demonstration event was held in sledge downhill racing. All classes of athletes with locomotor disabilities were able to...

, once more with Tofiri Kibuuka as its sole representative. Kibuuka subsequently obtained Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 nationality, and ceased to represent Uganda. Uganda has not taken part in any edition of the Winter Paralympics since 1980. It remains, however, the only tropical nation ever to have competed at the Winter Paralympics, and one of only two African countries to have done so, the other being South Africa
South Africa at the Paralympics
South Africa has competed at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.The country made its Paralympic début at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, where it sent nine athletes to compete in archery, athletics, swimming and weightlifting. They finished sixth on the medal table with nineteen...

, since 1998.

No Ugandan has ever won a medal at the Paralympic Games.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK