At the recent Paralympic Games in Tokyo, 1,668 medals were up for grabs, and an estimated 180 Muslim athletes – 135 men and 45 women – won 154 of them, making up 9.2% of overall winners.
Out of all the Muslim majority countries, Iran had the highest number of medals with 24. Nine of the awards – three golds and six silvers – were won in javelin and shot-put competitions. They also secured five powerlifting medals.
Iranian Archer Zahra Nemati hit a perfect 10 in a shoot-off to win her third individual recurve gold in a row in Tokyo. She is only the second archer in history, after Italy’s Paola Fantato, to win golds at three different editions of the Paralympic Games. Nemati has consistently made history since becoming the first woman from Iran to win a gold medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games back in 2012.
Among Muslim nations, Azerbaijan had the highest number of gold medals with 14. The country tallied 19 medals overall, beating their previous best of 4 golds and 12 medals in London 2012.
Qatar’s Abdulrahman Abdulqadir Fiqi is his country’s sole medallist, winning a bronze medal in the men’s shot put F34 event and was Qatar’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Algeria was the most successful African country at the Games, having secured 12 medals (10 in athletics, one in judo and powerlifting, respectively).
Meanwhile, with Team GB, the sole Muslim medallist for Great Britain was Ayaz Bhuta, who led them to a famous wheelchair rugby gold at the Paralympics in Tokyo, beating three-time champions, the United States.
