The 2024 Paris Paralympics\u00a0kicked off on Wednesday, with swimming, wheelchair basketball,\u00a0dancing Phrygian Caps<\/a>, and more\u00a0taking center stage\u200b<\/a>\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n With 549 medal events spanning 22 sports, a record 4,400 athletes from 168 delegations, plus the most women’s sports athletes and events in competition history, this year’s\u00a0Paralympics<\/a>\u00a0are capping off an exceptional summer of international sports.<\/p>\n An international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, the Paralympics operates separately from the\u00a0Olympic Games<\/a>\u00a0despite sharing a host country as well as most venues. Some sports \u2014 like\u00a0swimming<\/a>,\u00a0track<\/a>,\u00a0basketball<\/a>, and\u00a0volleyball<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 have direct Olympic counterparts, while other sports like\u00a0boccia<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0goalball<\/a>\u00a0are unique to the Paralympics.<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0US Olympic and Paralympic Committee<\/a>, para-sport athletes must have at least one of these 10 eligible underlying conditions to qualify for the Games: impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment, or intellectual impairment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Athletes then square off in\u00a0different classifications<\/a>\u00a0based on the type of disability they have \u2014 visual, physical, or intellectual \u2014 as well as how much their disability impacts their ability to compete in the event.<\/p>\n The US earned their first three medals on Thursday \u2014 all silver and all in\u00a0women’s swimming<\/a>. Ellie Marks earned her silver in the 50-meter freestyle S6, Christie Raleigh-Crossley took silver in the 50-meter freestyle S10, and Grace Nuhfer took silver in the 100-meter butterfly S13.<\/p>\n On Friday, Team USA Paralympic swimmer Gia Pergolini<\/a> won gold in the 100-meter backstroke S13 race, claiming first place ahead of Ireland’s R\u00f3is\u00edn N\u00ed R\u00edain and Italy’s Carlotta Gilli. Also on Friday, Ellie Marks medaled again, capturing silver in this morning’s 200-meter individual medley SM6.<\/p>\n Also making history this week was wheelchair rugby\u200b<\/a>\u00a0player\u00a0Sarah Adam<\/a>, who became the first woman Paralympian to compete for\u00a0Team USA<\/a> in the sport.<\/p>\n US Paralympic legend\u00a0Oksana Masters<\/a>\u00a0returned for the Paris Games, carrying the torch in Wednesday’s Opening Ceremony. Next week, she’ll hit the pavement in the\u00a0H5 Road Race<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0H4-5 Individual Time Trial<\/a>\u00a0para cycling events.<\/p>\n With 29 Paralympic medals<\/a> to her name, decorated Team USA swimmer\u00a0Jessica Long<\/a>\u00a0is also back at this year’s Games. She plans to compete in four events at this year’s Paralympics: Saturday’s 100-meter backstroke S8, Sunday’s 200-meter individual medley SM8, Wednesday’s 400-meter freestyle S8, and the following Saturday’s 100-meter butterfly S8.<\/p>\n Joining them in Paris is Rio Paralympic gold medalist and Team USA’s lead scorer in wheelchair basketball that year,\u00a0Becca Murray<\/a>, who\u00a0came out of retirement to help her squad better their Tokyo bronze medal performance. Her team beat Germany 73-44 in group stage play earlier today.<\/p>\n Another Tokyo standout, Katie Holloway Bridge<\/a>,\u00a0will attempt to guide the US sitting volleyball team to a third-straight\u00a0Paralympic gold<\/a>\u00a0after earning tournament MVP in the 2021 Games. Team USA sitting volleyball fell to China 3-1 today in their first pool stage match.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow the Paralympics work<\/h2>\n
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Swimmers start Team USA’s medal haul<\/h2>\n
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Masters, Long lead Team USA at the Paris Paralympics<\/h2>\n