Paris, France —(Map)
Most people know that the 2024 summer Olympics were held in Paris in July. But not everyone is aware that soon afterward, the 2024 Paralympic Games began. The Paris Paralympics officially ended on Sunday after 11 days of exciting events and broken records.
Paralympic Games
The Paralympics are like the Olympics, but they feature athletes who have some form of disability. The disabilities can include muscle problems, inability to move body parts, loss of body parts, brain challenges, and blindness. Some athletes are born with a disability. Others may develop a disability through an accident.
In the Paralympics, the disabilities are broken down into 10 large groups. The athletes are also separated by how serious their disabilities are. The goal is for athletes to compete with other athletes facing similar challenges.
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Though Paralympic athletes all have some form of “disability”, the focus of the Games is instead on the talents and abilities of these amazing athletes.
The 2024 Paralympic Games brought nearly 4,500 athletes to Paris from about 170 different nations. They competed in 22 sports broken down into over 549 different events.
Players in wheelchairs competed in tennis, basketball, rugby, fencing, and other sports. Blind athletes, or those with limited vision ran races, biked, played soccer (football), judo, and other sports. Athletes with prostheses took part in all sorts of activities.
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Since many athletes at the Paralympics require special equipment, an emergency repair shop was set up. This allowed athletes to get quick repairs when there were problems with their prostheses or other gear.
This year’s Paralympics were amazing, and there have been many incredible stories. China did extremely well in swimming. In several races, its athletes won all the medals. The US men’s wheelchair basketball team won gold for the eighth straight time.
More than 40 new world records were set in track and field. That included Australian Vanessa Low and Fleur Jong of the Netherlands in the Women’s long jump (T61 & T64) and China’s Di Dongdong in the Men’s long jump T11. It was US sprinter Jaydin Blackwell’s first time at the Paralympics, but he managed to set two world records and earn two gold medals (100 meter T38, 400 meter T38).
Several other athletes picked up medals in more than one event. Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi of Morocco set a world record and won gold in the Women’s marathon T12. She also took silver in the 1500 meter T13. American Ezra Frech won gold in the 100 meter T63 race as well as the high jump T63.
In a big win for the host country, France defeated Argentina in blind soccer in a match held on a court in front of the Eiffel Tower. In blind soccer, players depend on hearing the ball and human guides, so it’s important for the crowd to remain quiet. After tying 1-1, France defeated Argentina 3-2 on penalties to win the gold medal.
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China won the overall medal contest with a total of 220 medals, including 94 gold medals. Great Britain took second, with 124 medals including 49 golds. The US came in third with 105 medals, including 36 gold medals.
The Paralympics is a very serious sporting event, with highly talented athletes. But the Games also have another goal: raising awareness and acceptance of people with disabilities.
Roughly 15% of the people in the world have some sort of disability. The Paralympics are a great reminder that being disabled in one area doesn’t have to limit people in others.
Did You Know…?
This year, because the Olympics and Paralympics were held in Paris, the medals actually included a very small piece of metal from the Eiffel Tower.
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