Sport A-Z: Boccia

Boccia was practiced for many years as a leisure activity until it was introduced at the New York 1984 Paralympic Games as a competitive sport.

It is practiced in more than 50 countries by those with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions involving a wheelchair.

All events are mixed gender and feature individual, pair and team competitions.

The game consists of four rounds in individuals and pairs competitions and of six rounds in the team competition. It is played on a hard surface, and the goal is to throw the game balls so that they land as close as possible to a special target ball, which is called the "jack."

At the London 2012 Games, 104 athletes competed in seven medal events.


The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality. For further information, please visit http://www.paralympic.org.

To watch videos on demand from Paralympic Games and to subscribe to ParalympicSport.TV, please go to www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV. Also, you may follow the Paralympic Movement on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ParalympicGames or on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/paralympic.