Wheelchair tennis originated in the USA in the 1970's and appeared at the Paralympics for the first time in Barcelona in 1992. Today, the sport is practiced in more than 100 different countries.<br /><br />The game follows able-bodied rules with one exception -- the ball is allowed to bounce twice.<br /><br />To compete, athletes must have a permanent or substantial loss of function in one or both legs. They can compete in singles or doubles in matches that are the best-of-three sets.<br /><br />At the London 2012 Games, 112 athletes competed in six medal events.<br /><br />Results:<br />Men's Doubles <br />Gold: SWEDEN<br />Olsson, Stefan<br />Vikstrom, Peter <br /><br />Silver: FRANCE<br />Peifer, Nicolas<br />Cattaneo, Frederic <br /><br />Bronze: FRANCE<br />Houdet, Stephane<br />Jeremiasz, Michael <br /><br />Men's Singles <br />Gold: JPN - Kunieda, Shingo <br />Silver: FRA - Houdet, Stephane <br />Bronze: NED - Vink, Ronald <br /><br />Women's Doubles <br />Gold: NETHERLANDS<br />Vergeer, Esther<br />Buis, Marjolein<br /> <br />Silver: NETHERLANDS<br />Van Koot, Aniek<br />Griffioen, Jiske <br /><br />Bronze: GREAT BRITAIN<br />Whiley, Jordanne<br />Shuker, Lucy <br /><br />Women's Singles <br />Gold: NED - Vergeer, Esther <br />Silver: NED - Van Koot, Aniek <br />Bronze: NED - Griffioen, Jiske <br /><br />Mixed Doubles <br />Gold: USA<br />Taylor, Nicholas<br />Wagner, David <br /><br />Silver: GREAT BRITAIN<br />Norfolk, Peter<br />Lapthorne, Andy<br /><br />Bronze: ISRAEL<br />Gershony, Noam<br />Weinberg, Shraga <br /><br />Mixed Singles <br />Gold: ISR - Gershony, Noam <br />Silver: USA - Wagner, David <br />Bronze: USA - Taylor, Nicholas<br /><br />The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality. For further information, please visit http://www.paralympic.org.<br /><br />To watch videos on demand from Paralympic Games and to subscribe to ParalympicSport.TV, please go to www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV. Also, you may follow the Paralympic Movement on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ParalympicGames or on<br />Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/paralympic.
