Wheelchair rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
| Wheelchair rugby at the XII Paralympic Games | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) Paralympic Wheelchair rugby | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Helliniko Indoor Arena | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 19–25 September 2004 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Wheelchair Rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics was staged at the Helliniko Indoor Arena from September 19 to September 25.
Teams from eight countries participated in the competition, with a total of 89 athletes taking part. While wheelchair rugby was designated a mixed sport, with both men and women eligible to participate in the competition, no female athletes took part.
New Zealand's victory in the gold medal game represented the first time that a country from outside North America had won a Paralympics or World Championships title in the sport.
The wheelchair rugby competition in Athens was featured in the 2005 documentary film Murderball.
Medalists
Classification
Wheelchair rugby players were given a classification based on their upper body function. A committee gave each athlete a 7-level score ranging from 0.5 to 3.5, with lower scores corresponding to more severe disability. During the game, the total score of all players on the court for a team cannot exceed 8 points. However, for each female player on court, their team gets an extra 0.5 points over the 8 point limit.
Teams
Eight teams took part in this sport. Each team could have up to 12 athletes, but no more than 11 of the team members could be male. Listed below are the eight teams qualified for the Athens Paralympics.
| Qualified teams |
|---|
1.  United States (USA)
|
2.  Canada (CAN)
|
3.  Australia (AUS)
|
4.  Great Britain (GBR)
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6.  New Zealand (NZL)
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5.  Germany (GER)
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8.  Japan (JPN)
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7.  Belgium (BEL)
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Tournament
Competition format
The eight teams were divided into two even groups and participated in a single round robin tournament. The top two teams from each group went on to compete for 1st through 4th place, while the last two teams from each group competed for 5th through 8th place.
Preliminary Round
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | G:GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 138:109 | 6 |
| 2 | New Zealand (NZL)
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 120:101 | 5 |
| 3 | Australia (AUS)
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 117:137 | 4 |
| 4 | Japan (JPN)
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 121:149 | 3 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | G:GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain (GBR)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 100:82 | 6 |
| 2 | Canada (CAN)
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 96:91 | 5 |
| 3 | Belgium (BEL)
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 91:93 | 4 |
| 4 | Germany (GER)
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 93:114 | 3 |
- Qualified for quarterfinals
| Time | Match | Teams | Final score |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 19, 2004 | |||
| 10:00 | 1 | GBR vs. BEL | 27 - 22 |
| 12:00 | 2 | CAN vs. GER | 33 - 30 (OT) |
| 17:00 | 3 | USA vs. JPN | 54 - 39 |
| 19:00 | 4 | AUS vs. NZL | 31 - 41 |
| September 20, 2004 | |||
| 10:00 | 5 | GER vs. BEL | 33 - 40 |
| 12:00 | 6 | CAN vs. GBR | 30 - 32 (OT) |
| 17:00 | 7 | AUS vs. JPN | 48 - 47 |
| 19:00 | 8 | USA vs. NZL | 35 - 32 |
| September 21, 2004 | |||
| 10:00 | 9 | GBR vs. GER | 40 - 33 |
| 12:00 | 10 | CAN vs. BEL | 33 - 29 |
| 17:00 | 11 | NZL vs. JPN | 47 - 35 |
| 19:00 | 12 | USA vs. AUS | 49 - 38 |
Source: Paralympic.org [1]
Medal round
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Gold medal match | ||||||||
| 23 September 2004 - 10:00 | ||||||||||
| United States
| 46 | |||||||||
| 24 September 2004 - 17:00 | ||||||||||
| Germany
| 34 | |||||||||
| United States
| 20 | |||||||||
| 23 September 2004 - 19:00 | ||||||||||
| Canada
| 24 | |||||||||
| Canada
| 36 | |||||||||
| 25 September 2004 - 19:00 | ||||||||||
| Australia
| 33 | |||||||||
| Canada
| 29 | |||||||||
| 23 September 2004 - 12:00 | ||||||||||
| New Zealand
| 31 | |||||||||
| Great Britain
| 50 | |||||||||
| 24 September 2004 - 19:00 | ||||||||||
| Japan
| 42 | |||||||||
| Great Britain
| 35 | |||||||||
| 23 September 2004 - 17:00 | ||||||||||
| New Zealand
| 39 | Bronze medal match | ||||||||
| New Zealand
| 40 | |||||||||
| 25 September 2004 - 17:00 | ||||||||||
| Belgium
| 33 | |||||||||
| Great Britain
| 39 | |||||||||
| United States
| 43 | |||||||||
Source: Paralympic.org [1]
Classification 5-8
| Classification round | Fifth place | |||||
| 24 September 2004 - 10:00 | ||||||
| Belgium
| 36 | |||||
| 25 September 2004 - 12:00 | ||||||
| Japan
| 35 | |||||
| Belgium
| 43 | |||||
| 24 September 2004 - 12:00 | ||||||
| Australia
| 46 | |||||
| Australia
| 44 | |||||
| Germany
| 40 | |||||
| Seventh place | ||||||
| 25 September 2004 - 10:00 | ||||||
| Germany
| 41 | |||||
| Japan
| 40 | |||||
Source: Paralympic.org [1]
Ranking
| Place | Team |
|---|---|
|
New Zealand
|
|
Canada
|
|
United States
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| 4. | Great Britain
|
| 5. | Australia
|
| 6. | Belgium
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| 7. | Germany
|
| 8. | Japan
|
External links
- Wheelchair rugby results from the United States Quad Rugby Association
- International Wheelchair Rugby Federation