Boccia has been successfully adapted for people with disabilities and it was introduced at the New York 1984 Paralympic Games and has no counterpart in the Olympic programme. All events are mixed and feature individual, pair and team competitions for a total of seven medal events. 

The aim of the game is to throw leather balls - coloured red or blue (which side gets which is determined by a coin toss) - as close as they can to a white target ball, the "jack". The jack is thrown first; then each side takes turns to propel their ball towards the jack. After each side has thrown one ball, the side to throw next will be the side which does not have the closest ball to the jack ball, unless they have thrown all their balls, in which case the other side will throw next. The balls can be thrown with hands, feet, or, if the competitor's disability is severe, with an assistive device. At the end of each end, the referee measures the distance of the balls closest to the jack, and awards points accordingly - one point for each ball which is closer to the jack than the opponent's closest ball. The team/player with the highest number of points at the end of play is the winner.
 

The number of ends and balls in each end depends on the side makeup. Individual competition consists of four ends and six balls per player per end, whilst paired competition is four ends and six balls per pair per end (three per player). Team competition is six ends, and six balls per team per end (two per player).