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Tokyo 2020: China continues Paralympics dominance topping medal tally for fifth Games in a row
- Chinese athletes have topped the medal table every time since Athens, with Tokyo fourth Games in a row to pass 200-medal mark
- Smallest delegation since 2004 brings back more golds than London 2012 Games as athletes set 29 world records
Jonathan White
Published: 11:19am, 6 Sep, 2021
China topped the medal table at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, marking the fifth Games in a row where they finished top in both golds and total medals.
The Chinese delegation won three more golds and a silver on Sunday’s final day of action to take their Tokyo tally to 207 – 96 golds, 60 silvers and 51 bronzes.
Marathon runner Li Chaoyan set a new Paralympic record of two hours, 25 minutes and 50 seconds to win gold in the men’s T46 race. Cheng Hefang won gold in the women’s badminton SL4 final, where she beat Leani Ratri Oktila of Indonesia, while the men’s doubles team of Mai Jianpeng and Qu Zimo took gold in the WH final for China’s 96th and final gold of the Tokyo Games beating South Korea’s Kim Jung-jun and Lee Dong-seop.
China finished ahead of Britain – 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze – and the US – 37 gold, 36 silver and 31 bronze. Chinese athletes, who competed across 20 of the 22 sports in Tokyo, also set 29 world records.
The 207-medal total was down on the Rio 2016 haul of 239 – 107 gold, 81 silver, 51 bronze – but it marked the fourth Games in a row where China surpassed the 200-medal mark.
China sent 251 athletes to Tokyo for the Games, which were delayed for 12 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the smallest contingent since the Athens 2004 Paralympics. China sent 327 athletes to Rio five years ago, competing in 17 sports.
At London 2012 China’s 282 athletes topped the table with 231 medals – 95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze – while at the home Games of Beijing 2008, China’s 332 athletes won 211 medals – 89 gold 70 silver 52 bronze.
China first topped the medal table at Athens 2004, where their 200 athletes won 141 medals – 63 gold, 46 silver and 32 bronze – in 11 sports.
That marked a vast improvement on China’s sixth-place finish on the Sydney 2000 medal table with just 73 total medals.
With Tokyo marking the 10th consecutive appearance of a Chinese delegation at the Paralympics since the 1984 Games, China has now topped the medal table at half of them.
The Tokyo Games were closed on Sunday night at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium with China’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony, Zhang Xuemei, helping the women’s wheelchair basketball to a best finish of silver, losing in the final to the US.
Some 4,500 athletes competed in Tokyo across 540 medal events.
China top Paralympics medal tally for fifth Games in a row
Smallest delegation since Athens 2004 brings back more golds than London 2012 Games as athletes set 29 world records.
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