Jordan joins Paris Paralympic Games

AMMAN — Jordan joined nations from around the world as the Paralympic Games started in Paris on Wednesday with over 4000 athletes, competing in 22 sports.

In its 10th time at the Games, Jordan has 8 athletes: The seven powerlifters are headed by record four-time medalist Jamil Shibli, three-time medalist Omar Qaradhi, Rio silver medalist Tharwat Hajjaj, Beijing bronze medalist Mu'tazJuneidi, Abdul Karim Khattab, Asma Issa, Mohammad Shneiti in addition to Tokyo gold medalist Ahmad Hindi in athletics (shot put).

Table tennis, which secured Jordan’s first ever gold, and has always been a leading sport for the disabled is missing this time.

Since 1984, Jordan has won a total of 19 medals at the Paralympics (five gold, seven silver and sevenbronze). The total count includes a  silver and two bronze won at the Stoke Mandeville Games, which preceded the Paralympic Games.

The Tokyo Paralympics was the most successful for Jordan with a historic four gold medals in powerlifting and athletics and a bronze in table tennis. The four gold medals were the first after 20 years since the late Maha Barghouti's first gold (wheelchair table tennis) at the 2000 Sydney Games. 

Athletes with disabilities have usually made up for the failure to achieve better results on the Olympic scene, where even qualifying to the world’s premier sports gathering has been a daunting task, and since first participating in 1980, the Kingdom earned its first Olympic medal in 2016 and so far has four in total (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)

A look back at past Paralympic participations demonstrates how sports for the disabled has gained recognition for Jordan through impressive performances on the international scene. Jordan's medals tally started in 1984, when the late Aida Shishani won bronze in athletics, 100 and 200mand the Barghouti silver in shot put. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics,  Imad Gharbawi won a silver medal in the discus followed by Barghouti’s gold in Sydney 2000. Two medals were added in Athens 2004 when Jamil Shibli won silver in the shot put while the women’s table tennis team (Khitam Abu Awad and Fatima Azzam) won bronze. 

In 2008, Jordan won two silvers and two bronze. Omar Qaradhi took silver in power lifting; Shibli added a second silver with a new Paralympic world record in the shot put, Mu’taz Juneidi won a bronze in power-lifting and the women's wheelchair table tennis team won bronze when  Fatima Azzam and Khitam Abu Awad repeated their bronze medal win in Athens 2004.

The 2012 Paralympics was the most disappointing participation after the impressive women in table tennis failed to advance past the round of 16 while power lifters were embroiled in controversy amid sexual assault complaints and were returned home before later facing legal proceedings in the UK.

In Rio 2016, Jordan won three medals in power lifting -two silvers by Tharwat Hajjaj (86 kg) and Omar Qaradhi (49 kg), while 2004 and 2008 silver medalist Jamil Shibli won bronze (+107 kg). 

In Tokyo 2020, Ahmad Hindi set a new world record and won a gold in athletics (shot put); three golds were secured in  power lifting by Omar Qaradhi (49 kg), Abdul Karim Khattab (88 kg),  and Jamil Shibli (+107 kg) and a bronze was secured by veteran table tennis star Khitam Abu Awad in wheelchair table tennis.

Paralympic athletes are grouped in classes defined by the degree of function presented by the disability. Traditionally there are athletes who belong to six different disability groups in the Paralympics Movement: amputee, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability and a group which includes all those who are not within the aforementioned groups.