ATHENS, 29 September 2004 — East Asia’s top five finishers in the Athens Paralympics, which ended yesterday, earned nearly as many gold medals as the five strongest European nations.
China nearly doubled its haul from Sydney four years ago, earning 63 gold medals in Athens and finishing first overall, with Japan and Hong Kong also improving their totals to 17 and 11.
Of the top five Asian countries, South Korea and Thailand slipped a few notches, earning 11 and three golds respectively in Athens, as compared to 18 and five in the 2000 games.
Their combined total of 105 gold compares favorably with the 116 gold medals earned collectively by Britain (35) — which finished second overall behind China — along with Ukraine (24), Spain (20), Germany (19) and France (18).
Whereas the same countries took the top five Asian spots in Athens as in Sydney, in Europe there was a change in cast. Poland, which finished eighth overall in Sydney, dropped to 18th, whereas Ukraine soared from 35th place four years ago to 6th in Athens, just behind traditional powerhouse Australia and second only to Britain among European countries.
The third and fourth place finishers overall were Canada and the United States, both of which moved up one notch as compared to four years ago. A total of 25 of Canada’s 28 golds came in swimming and athletics, and 23 of the US’s 27 first-place medals came from the same two sports.
Other Asian nations pulled their weight, but it was China that led the way with a performance that stunned other delegations here and left competitors wondering how they were going to catch up before the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.
China only participated in 11 of 19 sports, and has vowed to add as many as possible before 2008. In Athens, they excelled not only in swimming and athletics, where the lion’s share of medals are to be had, but also in powerlifting and table tennis.
Japan owed its medal tally to athletics and swimming as well, but the other Asian countries stuck gold elsewhere: South Korea in table tennis, Hong Kong in wheelchair fencing. Two of Thailand’s two golds came in wheelchair events in athletics, and the third in fencing.
In Europe, Britain’s golds were more evenly distributed, with strong showings in swimming, equestrian events, track cycling and archery. Ukraine earned almost all its medals in the pool and on the track, as did Germany.
