World ParaVolley’s premier event – the Sitting Volleyball World Championships – has a long and distinguished history.
The first ever edition (for men) was held in Delten in the Netherlands in 1983 while the first ever women’s Sitting Volleyball World Championship took place in 1994 in Bottrop, Germany.
The Netherlands won both those first editions and is the country with the second most number of medals across both genders in the tournament.
Iran lead the way with 10 medals in total – all won in the men’s competition – with seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Bosnia and Herzegovina sit third on overall medal tally with six medals – three gold, two silver and a bronze – all won in the men’s competition including three gold in the last five editions.
The Netherlands also the country with the most number of appearances having played in all 13 men’s tournaments (including the 2022 edition), alongside Germany, and all eight women’s editions, along with Ukraine.
Hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina will be making their first appearance in the women’s competition.
Men 1983-1989
| Year | 1983 | 1985 | 1986 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host City | Delten, NED | Kristiansand, NOR | Pecs, HUN | Las Vegas, USA |
| 1 | Netherlands | Iran | Iran | Netherlands |
| 2 | Germany | Yugoslavia | Hungary | Hungary |
| 3 | Finland | Netherlands | Netherlands | Germany |
| 4 | Sweden | Sweden | Yugoslavia | Norway |
| 5 | Yugoslavia | Norway | Norway | Finland |
| 6 | Norway | Hungary | Germany | Iraq |
| 7 | Hungary | Germany | Finland | Great Britain |
| 8 | Austria | Finland | Sweden | Switzerland |
| 9 | Denmark | Austria | Austria | United States |
| 10 | Great Britain | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 11 | Egypt | |||
| 12 | United States | |||
| 13 | Great Britain |
Men 1990-2002
| Year | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host City | Assen, NED | Bottrop, GER | Tehran, IRI | Cairo, EGY |
| 1 | Iran | Iran | Iran | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 2 | Netherlands | Norway | Finland | Germany |
| 3 | Yugoslavia | Netherlands | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Iran |
| 4 | Hungary | Finland | Netherlands | Egypt |
| 5 | Germany | Hungary | Germany | Netherlands |
| 6 | Norway | Germany | Norway | Iraq |
| 7 | Sweden | Slovenia | Egypt | Hungary |
| 8 | Finland | Sweden | Kazakhstan | Japan |
| 9 | Great Britain | Iraq | Morocco | |
| 10 | Slovenia | United States | ||
| 11 | Japan | |||
| 12 | Australia |
Men 2006-2018
| Year | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host City | Roermond, NED | Oklahoma, USA | Elblag, POL | Arnhem, NED |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Iran | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Iran |
| 2 | Iran | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Brazil | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 3 | Egypt | Egypt | Iran | Brazil |
| 4 | Germany | Russia | Egypt | Ukraine |
| 5 | Russia | Ukraine | Russia | Russia |
| 6 | China | Germany | Germany | Egypt |
| 7 | Croatia | China | Ukraine | China |
| 8 | Netherlands | Brazil | China | United States |
| 9 | United States | Croatia | Netherlands | Kazakhstan |
| 10 | Iraq | United States | United States | Germany |
| 11 | Brazil | Serbia | Croatia | Netherlands |
| 12 | Japan | Netherlands | Poland | Poland |
| 13 | Kazakhstan | Iraq | Croatia | |
| 14 | Morocco | Kazakhstan | Iraq | |
| 15 | Hungary | Morocco | Japan | |
| 16 | Canada | Algeria | Rwanda | |
| 17 | Great Britain | |||
| 18 | Libya | |||
| 19 | South Korea | |||
| 20 | Rwanda | |||
| 21 | India |
Women 1994-2006
| Year | 1994 | 2000 | 2002 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host City | Bottrop, GER | Maastricht, NED | Kamnik, SLO | Roermond, NED |
| 1 | Netherlands | Netherlands | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| 2 | Latvia | Finland | Slovenia | China |
| 3 | Lithuania | Slovenia | Finland | Slovenia |
| 4 | Russia | Germany | China | Lithuania |
| 5 | Germany | Japan | Lithuania | United States |
| 6 | Ukraine | Mongolia | Japan | Ukraine |
| 7 | Ukraine | Ukraine | Japan | |
| 8 | Iran | Iran | Brazil |
Women 2010-2018
| Year | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host City | Oklahoma, USA | Elblag, POL | Arnhem, NED |
| 1 | China | China | Russia |
| 2 | United States | United States | United States |
| 3 | Ukraine | Russia | China |
| 4 | Netherlands | Netherlands | Italy |
| 5 | Slovenia | Ukraine | Brazil |
| 6 | Germany | Brazil | Ukraine |
| 7 | Russia | Slovenia | Canada |
| 8 | Lithuania | Finland | Netherlands |
| 9 | Brazil | Japan | Iran |
| 10 | Japan | Germany | Japan |
| 11 | Great Britain | Great Britain | Rwanda |
| 12 | Canada | Poland | Finland |
| 13 | Slovenia | ||
| 14 | Hungary | ||
| 15 | Egypt | ||
| 16 | Croatia |
Honours
Men
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Hungary | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Finland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 7 | Norway | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 |
Women
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | China | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Russia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | United States | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Slovenia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | Finland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Latvia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Lithuania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |