How to qualify in Para sport
How athletes qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games
The Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games has 23 sports, 560 medal events and 4,480 athlete places. The Games run from 15 to 27 August 2028.
One document from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) sets out how every one of those places is won. Each sport's international federation writes its own chapter, so the routes differ a great deal: para athletics uses world rankings and minimum standards, goalball uses tournaments, para equestrian uses a points list. But the same general rules sit over all of them.
To compete at all, an athlete must:
- be entered by a National Paralympic Committee (NPC) in good standing with the IPC (for India, the Paralympic Committee of India);
- meet the IPC's nationality rules;
- sign the IPC Conditions of Participation;
- be classified in an eligible sport class (with a class status the sport accepts) and enter only events open to that class;
- meet the sport's own extra conditions (a licence, a minimum number of competitions, a minimum age and so on).
The window: results that win a place directly can only come from 1 January 2026 to 2 July 2028. Results from the Paris 2024 Paralympics do not count.
The IPC itself sets no minimum age; some sports do.
The 23 sports and their places
| Sport | Medal events | Men | Women | Gender-free | Total places |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Para archery | 9 | 70 | 70 | 0 | 140 |
| Para athletics | 164 | 570 | 509 | 0 | 1,079 |
| Para badminton | 16 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 120 |
| Boccia | 11 | 64 | 64 | 0 | 128 |
| Para climbing | 8 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 80 |
| Para cycling | 51 | 140 | 80 | 0 | 220 |
| Para equestrian | 11 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 78 |
| Blind football | 1 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| Goalball | 2 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 96 |
| Para judo | 16 | 72 | 72 | 0 | 144 |
| Para paddle (canoe) | 10 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 100 |
| Para powerlifting | 20 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 180 |
| Para rowing | 5 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 104 |
| Shooting para sport | 13 | 75 | 60 | 15 | 150 |
| Para swimming | 142 | 325 | 280 | 0 | 605 |
| Para taekwondo | 10 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 120 |
| Para triathlon | 12 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 120 |
| Para table tennis | 32 | 140 | 140 | 0 | 280 |
| Sitting volleyball | 2 | 96 | 96 | 0 | 192 |
| Wheelchair basketball | 2 | 96 | 96 | 0 | 192 |
| Wheelchair fencing | 16 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 96 |
| Wheelchair rugby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 96 |
| Wheelchair tennis | 6 | 48 | 32 | 16 | 96 |
| Total | 560 | 2,268 | 2,007 | 205 | 4,480 |
Para rowing's 104 does not include coxswains (one for each coxed four, man or woman). Para climbing is new to the programme.
The ways a place can be won
The IPC lists eight methods; each sport picks its own mix:
- a place at the World Championships;
- a place at regional or zonal championships, or regional games (such as the Asian Para Games);
- a place at another approved competition or a designated Paralympic qualifier;
- a rank on a world or regional ranking list;
- a rank on a special Paralympic qualification ranking list;
- a minimum qualification standard, with or without a formula that shares the places out;
- doubles or team completion (a place given so that a pair or team can be formed);
- a Bipartite Commission Invitation.
Methods 1 to 3 are "direct slot allocations": one competition result wins one place.
Many sports reserve places for the host, the United States. American athletes still have to meet every eligibility rule.
Bipartite Commission Invitations
A small number of places in most sports are given by invitation, by the IPC after talking to the federation. They are part of each sport's quota, not extra. They are given to an athlete rather than the NPC and typically serve one of these aims: letting a top athlete in who could not qualify because of extraordinary circumstances; athletes with high support needs; more women; more regions; enough entrants for an event to go ahead; or a better competition format. If the invited athlete drops out, the place is withdrawn. There is no appeal.
Universality Wild Cards
Separate from the quotas, the IPC can invite athletes from NPCs that would otherwise have no one, or only one athlete, at the Games:
- an NPC with no qualified athlete can receive at most one male and one female wild card;
- an NPC with one place (in any sport) can receive at most one female wild card.
For LA28 these wild cards are offered only in para athletics and para swimming. The athlete must meet the sport's eligibility rules (unless the IPC waives some) and be on the Accreditation Long List. If the NPC later qualifies someone through the normal routes, the wild card is withdrawn. The IPC may open applications about six months before the Games.
Places that are not used
Each federation tells NPCs which places they have won. The NPC must confirm by the sport's deadline; places not confirmed are passed on by the sport's own rules. Places that still cannot be passed on, or fall vacant later, go back to the IPC, which may give them to any sport and either gender, or leave them empty. These decisions are final.
Key dates for every sport
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | Earliest start of any qualification period |
| 5 May 2028 | Accreditation Long List due: every possible delegation member, including reserves and invitation candidates |
| 2 July 2028 | Last day of any qualification period: every qualifying competition must be over |
| 24 July 2028 | Sport entries close (23:59, Los Angeles time); last day to meet eligibility |
| 15 to 27 August 2028 | The Games |
An athlete who is not on the Accreditation Long List cannot be entered.
Sport pages
| Sport | Page | Chapter in v1.12 |
|---|---|---|
| Para athletics | para-athletics-la28.md | Published |
| Para badminton | para-badminton-la28.md | Published |
| Boccia | boccia-la28.md | Published |
| Para climbing | para-climbing-la28.md | Published |
| Para cycling | para-cycling-la28.md | Published |
| Para equestrian | para-equestrian-la28.md | Published |
| Blind football | blind-football-la28.md | Published |
| Goalball | goalball-la28.md | Published |
| Para judo | para-judo-la28.md | Published |
| Para paddle (canoe) | paracanoe-la28.md | Published |
| Para powerlifting | para-powerlifting-la28.md | Published |
| Shooting para sport | para-shooting-la28.md | Published |
| Para swimming | para-swimming-la28.md | Published |
| Para taekwondo | para-taekwondo-la28.md | Published |
| Para triathlon | para-triathlon-la28.md | Published |
| Para table tennis | para-table-tennis-la28.md | Published |
| Sitting volleyball | sitting-volleyball-la28.md | Published |
| Wheelchair basketball | wheelchair-basketball-la28.md | Published |
| Wheelchair fencing | wheelchair-fencing-la28.md | Published |
| Para archery | Events and quota only | |
| Para rowing | Events and quota only | |
| Wheelchair rugby | Events and quota only (8 teams of 12) | |
| Wheelchair tennis | Events and quota only |
The IPC adds chapters as federations finish them; the register at the end of the document lists the dates. The four sports without a chapter in October 2026 get pages when theirs appear.