Seven female athletes and 17 male athletes will compete in eleven sports. Cycling will send the largest contingent with five athletes to the season highlight in France, closely followed by equestrian sports with four.
Three years ago in Tokyo, Austria won nine medals – one gold, five silver and three bronze. “At major events you always need a little bit of luck. I want to be optimistic that we will achieve a similar number of medals,” said ÖPC General Secretary Petra Huber. Pepo Buch, Florian Brungraber, Thomas Frühwirth and Alexander Gritsch are four athletes who have already won medals in Tokyo. Seven local athletes are celebrating their Paralympics debut.
A total of around 4,400 athletes from 184 nations are expected in Paris. A total of 549 decisions will be made in 22 sports – ten more than in Tokyo. Austria will be represented in the para-sports badminton, archery, cycling, dressage, canoeing, wheelchair tennis, table tennis, swimming, shooting, triathlon and athletics.