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The opening ceremony of the Paralympics will take place on Wednesday (28 August), with a total of 549 gold medals available across 22 sports.<\/b><\/p>\n
Africa won 63 medals \u2013 with a third of those gold \u2013 in Tokyo three years ago.<\/p>\n
However, that tally was down on the 97 medals secured at Rio 2016, with the Covid pandemic\u2019s impact on preparations among the reasons cited for the decrease.<\/p>\n
The majority of the continent\u2019s success came in track and field events, with powerlifting the next most successful discipline for African competitors.<\/p>\n
Gold medals were also won in cycling and judo, with one podium finish also in each of football, table tennis and taekwondo.<\/p>\n
Ten African countries are not sending a team to the Games, while nine others are set to have just a single representative.<\/p>\n
Eritrea is one member of the latter group, with the east African nation also making its Paralympic Games debut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n