Which country won the first Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold medal in 1960?

The United States won the first Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold medal in 1960.

Wheelchair basketball was included at the inaugural official Paralympic Games in Rome. The United States won the men’s tournament, establishing the country as the first Paralympic champion in the sport.

The Rome Games brought together athletes from 23 countries and included eight sports. Wheelchair basketball was already developing internationally through rehabilitation programmes and disability-sport organisations, making it one of the prominent team sports on the early Paralympic programme.

The sport has changed considerably since 1960. Modern wheelchair basketball uses functional classification points to balance the combined on-court impact of players’ impairments, while athletes compete in specialised sports wheelchairs designed for speed and turning.