The performance of Japanese Athletes in the Paralympic Games

Abstract

This article examines the standard of Japanese athletes performance in the Paralympic Games by comparing it with the performance of athletes from other National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). It uses data on Paralympic Games results available on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) website.

First, the article examines the performance of the Japanese national team. The percentage of medals won by Japanese athletes in the events in which they participated is relatively low in the summer Paralympic Games and average in the winter Paralympic Games when compared with other nations such as Australia, Great Britain and the United States in the summer games and Canada, Norway and the United States in the winter games. The comparison with other nations also indicates that China in the summer games and Russia in the winter games achieved a high level of performance. Further examination shows that the high level of performance by one nation is linked to the number of athletes it has in each sport. For example, athletes from the Russian team form a large part of the participants in biathlon. This fact indicates that there may be an unfair advantage in some sports in the Paralympic Games.

Second, the article examines the performance of Japanese athletes and teams in each individual and team sport in the Paralympic Games. In individual sports, the ratio of Japanese athletes who won the first round is low in athletics and high in swimming when compared with the overall competitive rate in the first round. In team sports, the Japanese team has won a medal in only one sport, womens goalball, and a Japanese team has not participated in some sports such as football five a side, football seven a side and mens goalball.