The 2008 Australian Team
- Australia will compete in 13 of the 20 sports at the 2008 Paralympic Games.
- Australia will take a total team of 291 - athletes and staff.
- There are 170 athletes including 11 guide runners and pilots for vision-impaired athletes, and 121 officials.
- Of the 159 athletes, 87 are men (55%) and 72 are women (45%). In Athens four years ago, 61% of the Australian team were men and 39% were women
- It is a bigger team than in Athens (143 athletes, 87 officials) but smaller than the team for Sydney (278 athletes and 157 officials).
- 27 athletes in the 2008 team were identified in the Toyota Paralympic Talent Search Program - an Australian Government-funded initiative run by the APC, and supported by Toyota.
Youngest Team Member:
Madison De Rozario (WA) - born 24th November 1993. (Athletics)
Oldest Team Member:
Elizabeth Kosmala (SA) - born 8th July 1942. (Shooting)
Nine Previous Games (1972-2004), 9 Gold & 3 Silver, + 1 time as Team Official (1968).
- 95 athletes will attend their first Paralympic Games
- 36 athletes will attend their second Paralympic Games
- 22 athletes will attend their third Paralympic Games
- 7 athletes will attend their fourth Paralympic Games
- 3 athletes will attend their fifth Paralympic Games
- 6 athletes will attend their sixth Paralympic Games
- 1 athlete will attend their tenth Paralympic Games
Athletes From Each State
ACT 17
NSW 37
NT 1
QLD 34
SA 17
TAS 1
VIC 45
WA 18
Australia's Paralympic Record
- Australia has won 906 medals at the Paralympic Games - 882 at the Summer Games and 24 at Winter Games.
- Australia won 101 medals in Athens (26 gold, 39 silver, 36 bronze), finishing second on the total medal tally behind China. Australia was fifth on the gold medal tally behind China, Great Britain, Canada and the USA.
- Australia could win their 1000th Paralympic medal in Beijing.
The 2008 Beijing Games
- The Beijing Games will have 472 gold medals on offer and will host around 4000 athletes and 2000 officials.
- Athletes from 170 countries will participate in China.
- There are 18 Paralympic venues this year, 16 in Beijing plus sailing in Qingdao and Equestrian in Hong Kong.
- It will be the second biggest sporting event in the world this year, watched by an estimated TV audience of 1.5 billion people.
