The Paralympics are a showcase of the most talented disabled athletes from around the world. As the 2024 Summer Paralympics get underway in Paris, here's a look at the winningest Paralympians of all time and the events they've dominated.
Trischa Zorn: 55 medals (41 gold)
Blind since birth, American swimmer Trischa Zorn is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games. The Orange, California, native won her 55 career medals over seven Paralympics from 1980 to 2004. Zorn was the first visually impaired athlete to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship, becoming a four-time All-American at Nebraska. Zorn was inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2022.
Heinz Frei: 35 medals (15 gold)
Swiss athlete Heinz Frei, who has been a paraplegic since an accident in 1978, won his medals at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics. Frei, the former world-record holder in the marathon wheelchair race for 22 years, competed in athletics at every Summer Paralympics from 1984 to 2008. He competed in cycling with a handcycle at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games. Frei also participated in the Winter Paralympics, competing in cross-country sit-skiing between 1984 and 2006 and in the biathlon in 1994. Frei won silver in the road race at the 2020 Tokyo Games at age 63.
Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum: 31 medals (15 gold)
Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum, who was diagnosed with polio at 4 years old, has represented Israel at the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games seven times, competing in athletics, swimming, table tennis and wheelchair basketball. She made her first Paralympics appearance in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games, competing in five events and winning a medal in each: gold in shot put D, silver in 50m freestyle swimming, and bronze in discus D, javelin D and table tennis.
Jonas Jacobsson: 30 medals (17 gold)
Swedish sport shooter Jonas Jacobsson, who was born with a disability in his lower limbs that requires him to use a wheelchair, participated in 10 straight Paralympic Games from 1980 to 2016. With 17 career gold medals, Jacobsson is the most successful shooter and best performing Paralympics men's athlete ever. He won his last Paralympic gold medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 at the 2012 London Games. Jacobsson, who made his Paralympics debut at 15, retired after the 2016 Rio Games at 51.
Jessica Long: 29 medals (16 gold)
Due to fibular hemimelia, Jessica Long 's lower legs were amputated when she was 18 months old. Since then, Long, from Baltimore, has enjoyed a swimming career that has made her one of America's most decorated athletes. Long made her Paralympics debut at the 2004 Athens Games at 12 years old, making her the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympics team. She won three gold medals. Long looks to add to her career haul in Paris after winning six events at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Trials.
Sarah Storey: 28 medals (17 gold)
Great Britain's most successful Paralympian, Sarah Storey is competing at her ninth Paralympic Games this summer in Paris after being named to the country's 23-rider cycling squad. The 46-year-old has 17 gold medals from her previous eight Paralympic Games -- her first coming as a swimmer at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, where she won two golds, three silvers and a bronze. Storey switched to track and road cycling in Beijing in 2008, adding 12 more gold medals. This summer, Storey will only compete in the time trial and road race events for the first time since 2008.
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