Back To News
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Australia Tops Commonwealth Games Para-Sport Medal Table

Australia Tops Commonwealth Games Para-Sport Medal Table

Australia Tops Commonwealth Games Para-Sport Medal Table
Spread the love

A world record in the pool, Games record in the marathon and brilliant performances from our stars in two new Commonwealth Games sports were among the memorable achievements of Australia’s Para-athletes at Birmingham 2022.

Australia’s 74 Para-athletes – plus four triathlon guides, two lawn bowls directors and two cycling pilots – stamped themselves as leaders among the 72 nations that participated at the Games, edging above host nation England to finish on top of the medal table.

By the completion of the largest Para-sport program in Games history, Australia had won 35 medals, including 12 gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze. The rest of the top 10, in order of gold medals won, was England, Scotland, Wales, Nigeria, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Northern Ireland.

The scene was set on the first day of competition when dual Summer and Winter Paralympic medallist Jess Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward took gold on the cycling track in the tandem sprint B – the first of their two gold medals at the Games – before S9 swimmer Tim Hodge, the winner of three medals at Tokyo 2020, set a new Games record in the 100 metres backstroke.

The next day Para-athletics great Madison de Rozario set a Games record to defend her marathon T53/54 crown and later won the 1500 metres to become the first Para-athlete to win four Commonwealth Games gold medals. Sprinter Evan O’Hanlon won Australia’s other Para-athletics gold medal, in the 100 metres T37/38.

Day two was topped off when rising star Katja Dedekind broke the world record in the 50 metres freestyle S13, backing up the crown she won in the same event at the World Para-Swimming Championships in Portugal in June.

Two giants of Australian Para-swimming, Ellie Cole and Matthew Levy, ended their decorated careers at the Games, with Levy capturing gold in the 50 metres freestyle S7, before two other Tokyo Paralympic medal-winning swimmers, Col Pearse and Jasmine Greenwood, won gold in the 100 metres butterfly S10 and 200 metres individual medley SM10, respectively.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxvOD4v_Kb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

One of the great stories from Birmingham was the performance of Australia’s men’s and women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball teams. In the new Commonwealth Games sport, our men’s team won a stirring gold medal, defeating Canada 11-9 in the final after Lachlin Dalton had provided one of the moments of the Games in the semi final against England when he hit a long-range two-pointer to steal the win in overtime. The women’s team, featuring Australian Gliders players Ella Sabljak, Amber Merritt and Hannah Dodd, won silver.

In another newly-added sport, Para-table tennis, Australia’s representatives backed up their best ever Paralympic performance with another strong showing, yielding three medals. The final of the women’s C6-10 classification was fought out between Australian Paralympic gold medallists Lina Lei and Qian Yang, with Qian coming out on top, while Ma Lin won silver in the C8-10 after an epic battle in the final.

Birmingham 2022 Para-sport Medal Tally

Rank by GoldNPCGoldSilverBronzeTotalRank by Total
1AUS121310351
2ENG101111322
3SCO444123
4WAL4228=5
5NGR344114
6CAN3238=5
7NZL2204=7
8IND2013=9
9RSA1124=7
10NIR1113=9
11MAS1001=11
=12CMR0101=11
=12SGP0101=11
=12SRI0101=11
=15FIJ0011=11
=15KEN0011=11
=15NAM0011=11
 Total424240124 

By: David Sygall
Posted: 9 August 2022
Image: Commonwealth Games Australia