Wheelchair rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics

Wheelchair Rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics was staged at the Helliniko Indoor Arena from September 19 to September 25.

Wheelchair rugby at the XII Paralympic Games
Paralympic Wheelchair rugby
Venue	Helliniko Indoor Arena
Dates	19–25 September 2004
Medalists
New Zealand  New Zealand Canada  Canada United States  United States

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

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Mixed wheelchair rugby	New Zealand (NZL) Dan Buckingham Stephen Guthrie Bill Oughton Timothy Johnson Geremy Tinker Jai Waite Sholto Taylor Gary McMurray Curtis Palmer	Canada (CAN) Allan Cartrand Fabien Lavoie Jared Funk David Willsie Patrice Simard Mike Bacon Michael Whitehead Daniel Paradis Raymond Lizotte Garett Hickling Ian Chan Allan Semenuik	United States (USA) Lynn Nelson Clifton Chunn Wayne Romero Brent Poppen Will Groulx Scott Hogsett Bob Lujano Andy Cohn Norman Lyduch Bryan Kirkland Mark Zupan Sam Gloor

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

Main article: Wheelchair rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics – Rosters

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)
6.  New Zealand (NZL)
5.  Germany (GER)
8.  Japan (JPN)
7.  Belgium (BEL)

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

Group A

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

Group B

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
4.	Great Britain
5.	Australia
6.	Belgium
7.	Germany
8.	Japan

External links

• Wheelchair rugby results from the United States Quad Rugby Association
• International Wheelchair Rugby Federation

References

1. "Athens 2004 Paralympic Game, Wheelchair rugby". Official Website of the Paralympic Movement. 2004. Retrieved 2012-10-28.