Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

made its

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

debut at the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officia ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. It was represented by a single athlete, Monaam Elabed, who won two bronze medals in athletics. The country has competed in every subsequent edition of the

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

, although it has never taken part in the

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The ...

. Tunisian competitors have only ever taken part in athletics events, with the sole exception of Dalila Tabai who competed in powerlifting in 2000.Tunisia at the Paralympics

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

Tunisians have won a total of 23 gold medals, 22 silver and 9 bronze. The country's first gold medals came in 2000, when

Wissam Ben Bahri Wissam Ben Bahri is a paralympic track and field, athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category F20 long jump and high jump events. Wissam competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics where he won a silver medal in the long jump as well as ...

took gold in the high jump,

Ali Ghribi Ali Ghribi is a Paralympic athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category P58 pentathlon events. He competed in the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. There he won a gold medal in the men's Pentathlon - P58 event. He also co ...

in the pentathlon, Fares Hamdi in the long jump, and

Maher Bouallegue Maher Bouallegue () is a retired Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competed mainly in category T13 800m to 10000m events. He is a seven-times Paralympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trained with the Tunisian Federation of Sports for ...

won three gold medals in running - in the 800 m, 1,500 m and 5,000 m races, in the T13 category for partially sighted athletes. In 2004, Bouallegue won three gold again - in the 1,500 m 5,000 m and 10,000 m events. The same year, Enna Ben Abidi took gold in the discus;

Mohamed Charmi Mohamed Charmi (born May 28, 1981) is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category T37 middle-distance events. Mohamed has competed in three Paralympic Games and has picked up 6 medals. His first Games were in 2004 in Athens. ...

in the 1,500 m race in the T37 category; and

Afrah Gomdi Afrah Gomdi is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category F40 throwing events. Afrah competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in G ...

in both javelin and shot put. Tunisia also won gold in the men's 4x400 m race, in the T35-38 category. Most recently, in 2008,

Somaya Bousaid Somaya Bousaid (, born 5 May 1980) is a Tunisian Paralympian athlete competing mainly in category T13 middle-distance events. Career She competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece where she won the gold medal in th ...

won the 800 m and 1,500 m races in the T13 category, while

Farhat Chida Mohamed Farhat Chida (; born September 11, 1982) is a Paralympic athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category T38 sprint events. Biographies Between 1990 and 1997, Mohamed competed in able bodied athletics and cycling, he was injured in a r ...

took gold in both the 400 m race (T38) and in the long jump. Mourad Idoudi won the club throw and discus (F32/51);

Faouzi Rzig Faouzi Rzig (born 9 July 1982) is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category F35 javelin events. Fauzi finished fourth in the F35 javelin in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, but four years later in Beijing Beij ...

the javelin (F33/34/52);

Raoua Tlili Raoua Tlili (; born October 5, 1989) is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category F41 shot put and discus events and is a multi gold medalist at the Paralympics. Career Tlili made her senior international debut back in ...

the shot put (F40); and

Abderrahim Zhiou Abderrahim Zhiou (, born September 26, 1985) is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category T12 middle-distance events. He is a six-time Paralympiclympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the Tunisian Fede ...

the 800 m (T12). Tunisia participated at the 1999

Arab Paralympics Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, held in

Amman, Jordan Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the List of largest cities in the ...

. Tunisia won twelve gold medals, eight silver medals, and two bronze medals at the event. They finished fifth out of sixteen nations that competed at the games. Tunisia will be taking part in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, and the

Tunisian Paralympic Committee The Tunisian Paralympic Committee, founded in 1990 and a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), is responsible for the development and management of paralympic sports in Tunisia and it belongs to African Sports Confederation of Di ...

have chosen

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

Medals

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Summer Sport

Medalists

See also

References