Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, following its independence from Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia at the Paralympics

Yugoslavia made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg. It did not compete at the 1976 Summer Games, but did take part in the inaugural Winter Paralympics that year in Örnsköldsvik...

, made its Paralympic Games

Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...

début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics

1992 Summer Paralympics

The 1992 Summer Paralympics were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.- Sports :The games consisted of 487 events spread over fifteen sports. Powerlifting and weightlifting were considered to be a single sport...

 in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, sending three competitors in swimming, two in shooting and one in track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

. The latter, Milka Milinkovic, won Croatia's first Paralympic medal, and its only medal of the 1992 Games - a bronze in the women's javelin (THW5 category).

Croatia has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics. It first participated in the Winter Paralympics in 2002, with two representatives in alpine skiing

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

, and has entered every edition of the Winter Games since then.

Croatians have won a total of nine Paralympic medals, of which three gold, one silver and five bronze. All of these medals have been won at the Summer Games, in track and field or swimming. And with the exception of Milinkovic's early bronze, all have been won in 2004 or 2008.

List of medallists

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
	Antonia Balek Antonia Balek Antonia Balek is a Paralympian athlete from Croatia competing mainly in F52 shot putt and discus throw events.She competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. There she won a gold medals in both the women's shot putt F32–34/52–53 event and F33–34/52–53 javelin throw event.-External...	2008 Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....	Athletics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Paralympics were held in Beijing National Stadium from September 8 to September 17. There were 160 gold medals in this sport.-Classification:Athletes are given a classification depending on the type and extent of their disability...	Women's Javelin F33/34/52/53
	Antonia Balek	2008 Beijing	Athletics	Women's Shot Put F32-34/52/53
	Darko Kralj Darko Kralj Darko Kralj is a Paralympian athlete from Croatia competing mainly in category F42 shot putt events.He competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. There he won a gold medal in the men's F42 shot putt event....	2008 Beijing	Athletics	Men's Shot Put F42
	Branimir Budetić Branimir Budetić Branimir Budetić is a Paralympian athlete from Croatia competing mainly in category F12 javelin events.He competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. There he won a silver medal in the men's F11-12 javelin throw event, with a distance of 57.11 m.-External links:...	2008 Beijing	Athletics	Men's Javelin F11/12
	Milka Milinković	1992 Barcelona 1992 Summer Paralympics The 1992 Summer Paralympics were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.- Sports :The games consisted of 487 events spread over fifteen sports. Powerlifting and weightlifting were considered to be a single sport...	Athletics Athletics at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletics at the 1992 Summer Paralympics consisted of 214 events, 152 for men and 62 for women. Because of a tie for third place in the men's high jump B2 event, a total of 215 bronze medals were awarded.- Men's events :- Women's events :...	Women's Javelin THW5
	Jelena Vuković Jelena Vuković Jelena Vuković is a paralympic athlete from Croatia competing mainly in category F44 shot putt and discus events.Jelena has competed in the shot and discus in three Paralympics firstly in 2000, then in 2004 where she won the bronze medal in the discus for F42-46 and then again in 2008. In 2008,...	2004 Athens 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...	Athletics Athletics at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletics at the 2004 Summer Paralympics included 17 events for men and 15 events for women, in 5 disciplines. Athletes competed in one of four disability categories:*Blind or visually impaired athletes - Sport classes 11 to 13....	Women's Discus F42-46
	Mihovil Španja	2004 Athens	Swimming Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, in the Olympic Aquatic Centre was competed in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly , the breaststroke and individual medley ....	Men's 100 m Backstroke S8
	Mihovil Španja	2004 Athens	Swimming	Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM8
	Mihovil Španja	2004 Athens	Swimming	Men's 400 m Freestyle S8