The US dominates the Olympics. Why can’t it do the same at the Paralympics?

CNN —

Olympic fans tuning into the Paralympics for the first time are faced with an unfamiliar sight: Team USA lagging behind in the medal table.

While US Olympians have been dominating medal counts and airwaves for decades, their Paralympic colleagues have had far more modest success.

So far in the 21st century, the US has only failed to top the Olympic medal table once, but its average place in the Paralympic medals table since 2000 is fourth.

Ukraine, a nation with a population around a tenth that of the US and a GDP less than 1% that of the US, has beaten Team USA in two of the last three Paralympic Games.

However, since coming sixth in the medal table at the 2012 Paralympics in London, there has been a steady improvement in the United States’ position, coming fourth in Rio in 2016 and third in Tokyo in 2021.

As of close of play on Friday, the US was third in the medal table – behind China and Great Britain – with 31 gold medals and 86 total.

So, can Team USA continue to turn things around?

The US once dominated the Paralympics in the same way it does the Olympic Games.

Between 1976 and 1996, Team USA topped the medal table at every single Paralympics. The US is the all-time record holder for most overall and gold Paralympic medals, largely due to the nation’s dominance during this period.

Julie Dussliere, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief of Paralympics, attributes Team USA’s relative drop in the medals tables to the global growth of the Paralympic movement, telling CNN Sport: “Team USA remains incredibly strong and well supported – and we are thrilled by the performance so far in Paris.”

One could be forgiven for being unaware of Team USA’s fluctuating fortunes, as the