Para sport in Croatia began to develop systematically after the Second World War. During the 1950s and 1960s, disabled war veterans started getting involved in para sports activities, and disabled civilians joined them. Para sports and recreational societies were being founded at rehabilitation institutions, in several cities and at larger companies and other organisations. The national para sports association was founded in Zagreb in 1964. It was named the Association for Physical Education and Recreation of Disabled Persons of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. In 1975, the association changed its name to the Croatian Sports and Recreation Association for the Disabled and operated under that name until May 1993, when it changed its name to the Croatian Sports Association for the Disabled. Since 2006, it has been operating as the Croatian Paralympic Committee. The Croatian Paralympic Committee has been a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) since September 1993 and the European Paralympic Committee (EPC) since September 1998. Croatian para athletes first competed at the Summer Paralympic Games in Heidelberg in 1972, and at the Winter Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Up to 2024 they have won 48 Summer Paralympic medals (30 under the Croatian flag) and 2 Winter Paralympic medals in the following para sports: para athletics, para swimming, para table tennis, sitting volleyball, goalball, para alpine skiing and para snowboard. Croatia’s most successful Paralympians, who have each won 8 Paralympic medals, are para track and field athlete Milka Milinković (2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals) and para swimmer Roko Mikelin Opara (1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals). Milka Milinković appeared at 9 Paralympic Games and won the first Paralympic medal (Paralympic Games Heidelberg 1972) and the first Paralympic medal after Croatia gained its independence (Paralympic Games Barcelona 1992).
List of Paralympic medallists:
Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games – Milka Milinković (para athletics, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal)
Arnhem 1980 Paralympic Games – Roko Mikelin Opara (para swimming, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal); Milka Milinković (para athletics, 2 bronze medals); Ivan Lazić, Milan Košić and Branko Sorko (sitting volleyball, 1 bronze medal)
Stoke Mandeville and New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Milka Milinković (para athletics, 1 gold and 1 silver medal); Roko Mikelin Opara (para swimming, 1 gold and 2 bronze medals); Marinko Vidaić and Špiro Zrilić (goalball, 1 bronze medal)
Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games – Milka Milinković (para athletics, 1 gold medal); Adam Kablar (goalball, 1 gold medal); Roko Mikelin Opara (para swimming, 1 bronze medal)
Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Milka Milinković (para athletics, 1 bronze medal)
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Mihovil Španja (para swimming, 3 bronze medals); Jelena Vuković (para athletics, 1 bronze medal)
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games – Antonia Balek (para athletics, 2 gold medals); Darko Kralj (para athletics, 1 gold medal); Branimir Budetić (para athletics, 1 bronze medal)
London 2012 Paralympic Games – Darko Kralj (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Zoran Talić (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Mikela Ristoski (para athletics, 1 bronze medal); Branimir Budetić (para athletics, 1 bronze medal); Mihovil Španja (para swimming, 1 bronze medal)
Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic Games – Mikela Ristoski (para athletics, 1 gold medal); Sandra Paović (para table tennis, 1 gold medal); Zoran Talić (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Anđela Mužinić and Helena Dretar Karić (para table tennis, 1 silver medal); Velimir Šandor (para athletics, 1 bronze medal)
Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games – Ivan Mikulić (para taekwondo, 1 silver medal); Velimir Šandor (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Ivan Katanušić (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Anđela Mužinić Vincetić and Helena Dretar Karić (para table tennis, 1 bronze medal); Deni Černi (para athletics, 1 bronze medal); Mikela Ristoski (para athletics, 1 bronze medal); Dino Sinovčić (para swimming, 1 bronze medal)
Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games – Dino Sokolović (para alpine skiing, 1 gold medal); Bruno Bošnjak (para snowboard, 1 bronze medal)
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – Anđela Mužinić (para table tennis, 1 bronze medal); Deni Černi (para athletics, 1 silver medal); Luka Baković (para athletics, 1 bronze medal); Dino Sinovčić (para swimming, 1 bronze medal).