As the teams keep popping up in Christchurch, one at a time, one thing remains a constant... everyone wants the Cup... and everyone thinks they can win it.

However, since the first World Championship in Switzerland in 1995, only four countries have medalled at either the Worlds or at the Paralympic Games.

Sorry about the blank space... but Blogger doesn't seem to like tables too much, no matter how often I tweak the design... you can see the table below...

Flag	Team	Code	Gold		Silver		Bronze		Total
			WC	PG	WC	PG	WC	PG
	United States	USA	2	2	1	0	0	1	6
	Canada	CAN	1	0	1	2	1	0	5
	New Zealand	NZL	0	1	1	0	1	2	5
	Australia	AUS	0	0	0	1	1	0	2

Another three countries have placed 4th at either a World Championships or a Paralympic Games (Great Britain, Sweden, and Belgium), with the Brits having three 4th place finishes. Canada, Sweden, and Belgium have one 4th place finish apiece.

However, this is history, and we're living in reality, and all countries have made leaps and bounds in the sport, so medal positions aren't assured for anyone, with recent 1-point differential games involving the following teams at the 2006 Canada Cup: USA over GER, CAN over AUS, GBR over CAN, SWE over GER, and USA over NZL (in triple overtime in the championship game!!!)

One week earlier, at the 2006 North American Cup in Birmingham, Alabama, there were also a number of games decided by one point, including a triple overtime win by the US over GB. Another notable single point victory was earned by Canada over New Zealand. Canada also featured three of the four tournament all-stars at this international tournament (Daniel Paradis, Patrice Simard, and Ian Chan).

Japan has possibly the fastest player in the world in 3.0 Shinichi Shimawakawa, who won the USQRA Player of the Year award this past season for his contributions to his club team, the Phoenix Heat, who won the Division 1 Championship at the USQRA Finals this past April. He was also the MVP at the Championships, and at most every tournament he attended all season. Those familiar with the Murderball movie will also know his Phoenix teammates 2.0 Andy Cohn and 1.0 Scott Hogsett, who were both featured prominently in that successful movie.