Women Won More Medals for Team USA at Tokyo Paralympics as U.S. Finishes 4th in Total Count

Team USA was comprised of more women than men at the Paralympics for the first time in history

jessica Long, Oksana Masters and Deja Young
Photo: Eugene Hoshiko/AP/Shutterstock ; Lintao Zhang/Getty; Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto via Getty

Women dominated at the Tokyo Paralympics.

For the first time in history, Team USA was comprised of more women (123) than men (120) at the Paralympics, according to NBC Sports, which reported that female athletes account for about 42 percent of all Paralympians in Tokyo.

And the final medal count reflected that historic feat as more U.S. women ended up on the podium in Japan.

At the conclusion of the Paralympics on Sunday, the overall medal count for the American delegation was 104 total medals, including 37 gold. Female athletes won over 60 percent of the total U.S. medals and over 60 percent of U.S. gold medals.

Among the female athletes to win more hardware was swimmer Jessica Long, who took two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in Tokyo, increasing her total to 28 medals since her Paralympic debut in 2004. Long is the second-most decorated U.S. Paralympian behind Trischa Zorn-Hudson, who nabbed 55 medals (44 gold, nine silver, and five bronze) in seven Paralympics Games.

China finished first in the overall gold medal count followed by Great Britain and the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), with the U.S. ranked fourth (Team USA was fourth in the ranking based on total medals).

In both the pandemic-delayed Paralympics and Olympics, women proved to be elite medal winners.

During the Tokyo Olympics, the female athletes on Team USA collectively earned about 60 percent of the total 113 medals, including feats in fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, track and field, water polo, wrestling and more (By contrast, countries like Japan, Australia, and Italy earned 58, 46, and 40 medals respectively, all less than the U.S. women).

Those statistics, according to analysis by reporters with USA Today and NBC, began to change at the Beijing Games in 2008.

The increase was due in large part to Title IX, which since 1972 has legally required women and girls have equal access and treatment to athletics in any school receiving federal funds.

To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org.

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