Next Wednesday, there is the opening ceremony at the “Place de la Concorde” of “Paris 2024 Paralympic Games”, where iconic arenas – Stade de France, Roland-Garros, Bercy Arena, Palace of Versailles, Grand Palais, Invalides and Eiffel Tower – are the venues for 4,400 paralympians, who will compete in 22 different sports over 12 days. A total of 549 medal sets are to be awarded – from a single medal set in wheelchair rugby, where Denmark is qualified, to as many as 164 medal sets in athletics.
All four Nordic nations – Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark – have participated in the Paralympic Games from the late 1960s and through the 1970s and 1980s the Nordic nations were most often placed among the top 25 in the national ranking. Sweden won a total of 160 medals at the 1984 Paralympic Games and thereby achieved 4th place in the national ranking, where Denmark and Norway were No. 10 and No. 11 with 90 and 59 medals respectively. However, it should be mentioned that paralympians and teams from 55 nations participated in 1984, but the number of nations at the upcoming PL 2024 in Paris are no less than 182 from all few continents.
The Nordic countries have been overtaken
In recent decades, the Nordic countries have been overtaken by a large number of nations in international para-sports, which has many reasons. The main reason is that many nations – often with much larger populations than the Nordic countries – have invested large financial resources in para-sports, especially with a view to achieving top results at international championships. The last three Paralympic Games have been dominated by strong sporting nations such as China, Great Britain, United States, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Australia, while the Nordic countries have typically been ranked No. 30-50 in the national ranking. There are many indications that the strongest sports nations have invested relatively more in para-sports than the Nordic nations in recent decades. Both Sweden (0.6%), Norway (0.4%) and Denmark’s share (0.4%) of the total number of medals at the last three Paralympic Games have been significantly less than these three nations’ medal share at the Olympic Games in the same period (Sweden: 0.9% – Norway: 0.5% – Denmark: 1.2%).
Sweden – Most PG medals and fewest sports
Sweden has historically been the best Nordic nation, which has also been the case at the last three Paralympic Games: London 2012 with 12 medals (4-4-4), Rio 2016 with 10 medals (1-4-5) and Tokyo 2020 with 8 medals (1-5-2). The medals are primarily won in table tennis, swimming, shooting, dressage and cycling. Sweden has usually been represented in many sports, which is not the case in Paris, where Swedish para-athletes and teams are qualified in 7 sports. For comparison, it can be mentioned that Sweden was represented in 12 sports at PG 2012, 15 sports at PG 2016 and 11 sports in PG 2020. Among the biggest medal candidates in Paris are, in my opinion, the cyclists Anna Beck and Louise Jannering, who both won medals in Tokyo. In addition, dressage rider Louise Etzner Jakobsson, judo fighter Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich and several table tennis players have good medal chances.
Norway – Skarstein as the biggest medal candidate
At the last three Paralympic Games, Norway has especially achieved top results in swimming, dressage and rowing. Norwegian athletes won 8 medals (3-2-3) at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, while somewhat disappointingly only 4 medals (2-0-2) in Tokyo. At 2024 PG, Norway is represented by para-athletes and teams in 7 sports, where rower Birgit Skarstein is, in my opinion, the biggest medal candidate. The 35-year-old Skarstein is also an extremely skilled cross-country skier and she is also a member of the IPC’s athlete committee. Norway also has medal candidates in dressage, although Ann Cathrin Lübbe with 8 medals (3-3-2) at the last 5 Paralympic Games is not part of the Norwegian PG team. I also think that the 100-meter runner Salum Ageze Kashafali, who won gold in Tokyo, and the table tennis player Aida Dahlen, who won bronze in Tokyo, are strong medal candidates for Norway.
Finland – Impressive results in athletics
Finland has historically proud traditions in athletics, which is also the case in para-sports. Finnish para-athletes have won a total of 28 medals at the last 5 Paralympic Games, including an impressive 21 medals in athletics. In particular, Leo-Pekka Tähti with 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in sprints at the last 5 Paralympic Games and javelin thrower Marjaanna Heikkinen with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the last 3 Paralympic Games have won medals, which will probably also be the case in Paris. Finland has qualified for 2024 PG in 6 sports, which is significantly fewer than Rio (11) and Tokyo (7).
Denmark – Good medal chances for experienced Paralympians
At the last three Paralympic Games, Denmark has especially achieved top results in athletics, dressage, table tennis and taekwondo, where the number of medals has been 5 (1-0-4) in London 2012, 7 (1-2-4) in Rio 2016 and latest 5 (3-1-1) in Tokyo. The biggest Danish medal candidates in Paris are all para-athletes who won a medal in Tokyo: Taekwondo fighter Lisa Kjær, Daniel Wagner – who has won a total of 4 medals in long jump and 100 meter race – dressage rider Tobias Thorning Jørgensen and table tennis player Peter Rosenmeier. Rosenmeier will participate in the Paralympic Games for the 6th time in a row – and each time with a medal as a result. The 40-year-old sympathetic dane has been a fantastic representative of Danish elite sports for two decades. Denmark is represented by athletes and teams in 9 sports in Paris, which is more than London (8), Rio (6) and Tokyo (7).
Need for more visionary goal setting
Para-sports – both elite sport and sport for people with different types of disabilities – has become more and more widespread throughout the five continents of the globe in recent decades. Today, there is not much difference between the nations that dominate the medal stands at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For that reason, it must be expected that each of the Nordic countries will win between 5-10 medals, probably with Sweden as the most winning nation in the Nordics. A future goal for the Nordic countries’ results at the upcoming Paralympic Games in 2028 and beyond could be that para-athletes and teams are qualified in the same proportion of sports and win the same – or perhaps even greater – proportion of medals than the individual nation’s athletes and teams at the Olympic Games.
Postscript – 9 September 2024
“Paris 2024 Paralympic Games” was a great sporting success for both Denmark and Norway, while Sweden experienced a significant decrease in the number of PL-medals and positions on the IPC’s nation ranking compared to Tokyo 2020. Finally, Finland won 4 medals (0-1-3), which is on the same level as the last three Paralympics.
Denmark won a total of 10 medals (2-3-5), which placed them at No. 38 on the IPC’s official national ranking. The 10 medals for Danish athletes and teams were won in 7 different sports – the best Danish PG-result since “Athens 2004 Paralymics”. Both Daniel Wagner (long jump and 100 meters) and Emma Lund (cycling – line race and time trial) won 2 medals, as did Lisa Kjaer (taekwondo) and Peter Rosenmeier (table tennis) also won bronze medals. Among the biggest Danish surprises were swimmer Alexander Hillhouse (100 meter butterfly), dressage rider Katrine Kristensen (silver medal), rifle shooter Martin Black Jørgensen (bronze medal) and long jumper Bjoerk Noerremark (bronze medal). It was particularly positive that several of the Danish medal winners were PG debutants.
Norway won a total of 7 medals in 5 sports (no. 54 – IPC’s ranking), which is also significantly better than Tokyo 2020, where it was 4 medals (2-0-2). Both the rower Birgit Skarstein (silver), the 100-meter runner Salum Ageze Kashafali (silver) and the table tennis player Aida Husic Dahlen (silver) lived up to the expectations as a medal candidate. Complemented by badminton player Helle Sofie Sagoey (bronze medal), swimmer Fredrik Solberg (bronze medal – 50 meter free), women’s doubles Aida Husic Dahl and Merethe Tveiten (table tennis – bronze medal) and not least PG gold winner Tommy Urhaug confirmed Norway’s position as one of the world’s best sporting nations.
Sweden‘s para-athletes and teams failed to maintain their position as the Nordic’s best and a ranking of no. 72 in the IPC’s national ranking must be considered very disappointing. The three medals for Sweden were not surprisingly won by the cyclist Anna Beck (bronze medal – time trial), the judo fighter Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich (bronze medal), while the rifle shooter Anna Benson delivered the biggest positive performance by a silver medal. It should also be mentioned that the Swedish table tennis players qualified for a total of six quarter-finals without any of the quarter-finalists succeeding in playing in the semi-finals, thereby securing at least a bronze medal.
The “Paris 2024 Paralympic Games” showed significantly higher quality and tougher competition, also by athletes and teams from nations that have not previously competed for medals. China (220 medals), Great Britain (124 medals) and the United States (105 medals) were unsurprisingly the most winning nations, but so were nations such as Brazil (89 medals), Ukraine (82 medals), Australia (63 medals) and the Netherlands (56 medals) pleasantly surprised. The greatest breadth and higher qualities in international parasport was also expressed by the fact that 85 nations out of 170 participating nations – 50 percent – won at least one medal in Paris.
Sources:
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – https://www.paralympic.org/paris-2024
Sverige Paralympiska Kommitté – https://www.paralympics.se/
Team Norway – https://www.teamnor.no/
Finnish Paralympic Committee – https://www.paralympia.fi/in-english
Parasport Danmark – https://parasport.dk/aktiviteter/elite-events/de-paralympiske-lege/
Rasmus K. Storm, Troels Kollerup Jensen and Klaus Nielsen: Swedish elite sports. External evaluation. (Danish Institute for Sports Studies, 2024).
