The Paralympics wrapped up on Sunday, ending 11 jam-packed days of competition and a summer of jaw-dropping athleticism in Paris.
And the results are in.
China extended its two-decade-long Paralympic winning streak, dominating both the overall medal count (220) and in gold medals (94) for the sixth Summer Games in a row.
Great Britain placed second with 124 total medals, 49 of them gold. The U.S. was close behind with 105 medals, including 36 gold. The Netherlands and Brazil rounded out the top five.
Team USA competed in 20 sports (out of 22 included in this year’s Games) and earned podium finishes in 16, according to the committee. Fifty-three American athletes won their first Paralympic medals, and 29 left Paris with more than one.
“We are so proud of Team USA and their incredible performances at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” said Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “Their determination and grit invigorated and inspired a proud nation and fans around the world, uniting us all through the transformative power of sport.”
Team USA swept swimming and track
The U.S. earned most of its medals in Para track and field (38 total), followed by swimming (30). It also won big in cycling (8), triathlon (8) and equestrian (7).
On the track, Tatyana McFadden earned her 21st medal to become the most decorated U.S. athlete in the sport. Roderick Townsend completed a three-peat in the men’s high jump T47, taking home his third consecutive gold in the event since 2016, while Ezra Fech won his first two gold medals in his second Games.
And half of the fan-favorite power coupleHunter-Woodhall won gold in the men’s 400m T62 final, just weeks after his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, won gold in the Olympic long jump.
In the pool, six-time Paralympian Jessica Long won two medals to bring her career total to 31 (including 18 gold). That makes Long — who won her first medal at Athens 2004 at age 12 — the second-most decorated American Paralympian of all time.
“I'm coming towards the end of my career — I hope to end in LA,” she told Olympics.com.
First-time Paralympic swimmers also made headlines and racked up medals. Ali Truwit won two silver medals just a year after losing part of her leg in a shark attack, and Christie Raleigh Crossley won five medals — and set a 50-meter freestyle world record — despite facing bullying from people who have doubted her disability.
Raleigh Crossley is tied with fellow swimmer Ellie Marks for most medals won by an American Paralympian in Paris.
Marks, a U.S. Army sergeant first class who now has nine career Paralympic medals — including Team USA’s first medal of the Paris Games — served as one of the flag bearers at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
Americans extended winning streaks and achieved notable firsts
It was a banner year for team sports, with Team USA winning repeat medals in many events.
The U.S. Para triathlon team won eight medals, the best performance for any country in the sport and the third year in a row the U.S. has placed first.
Team USA won its third straight title in men’s wheelchair basketball — the first country to ever do so — as well as women’s sitting volleyball.
The women’s wheelchair basketball team won silver for the first time in 32 years. The storied wheelchair rugby team also won a silver medal, reaching the podium for its seventh consecutive Games.
Four-time medalist Chuck Aoki cemented his status as the most decorated wheelchair rugby player in U.S. history, while Sarah Adam made history as the first American woman to win a Paralympic medal in the sport.
That’s one of many notable firsts for American athletes.
Duo Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon — both 19 years old — overcame the odds and a series of logistical obstacles to become the first U.S. athletes to medal in the sport of badminton at either the Paralympic or Olympic Games.
Four-time Paralympian Matt Stutzman made history as the first armless archer to win a Paralympic gold medal, in the men’s individual compound open.
Jeremy Campbell became the first Paralympian to throw over 60 meters in discus F64 (which earned him his fourth discus gold medal), while Noelle Malkamaki became the first woman to throw over 14 meters in the shot put F46 (which won her a gold medal and broke her own world record). Liana Mutia became the first American woman to medal in Para judo-57 kg.
And multi-sport athlete Oksana Masters repeated as champion in both of her individual Para cycling road race events, bringing her career medal total to 19 in four different sports — rowing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and cycling — across both Winter and Summer Games.
Marriage proposals, the first refugee team medals and other milestones
The Paralympics were packed with incredible athletic achievements, powerful personal stories and other meaningful milestones.
Athletes broke more than 40 world records in less than two weeks, from the track and pool to the cycling arena and powerlifting bench.
Taekwondo athlete Zakia Khudadadi won the Refugee Paralympic Team's first-ever medal, and sprinter Guillaume Junior Atangana won its second in the men’s T11 400 meter. They each dedicated their bronze medals to the more than 120 million people worldwide forcibly displaced from their homes.
Several countries, like Eritrea, were represented at the Games for the first time. Others reached the medal podium for the first time, like Nepal, whose Palesha Goverdhan won bronze in taekwondo to give the country its first-ever Paralympic or Olympic medal.
In another first, British Para archer Jodie Grinham became the first known pregnant athlete to make it to the Paralympic podium. She won both the women’s individual compound bronze and mixed team gold “despite having to pause at times to reset her focus due to the baby kicking,” according to Olympics.com.
And among the many memorable moments outside of the competition were a whopping four marriage proposals to, by or between Paralympic athletes, a fitting motif for the “city of love.”
They don't call it the city of love for nothing 🥹💍 Another proposal at the #Paris2024 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/JXHNOKHCrr
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) September 2, 2024
Preliminary numbers suggest that after a highly-watched Olympics in July, lots of viewers kept up with the action through September: Two million tickets to the Paralympics were sold by the day of the opening ceremony, and British broadcaster Channel 4 said at the halfway mark that the number of streaming views was double what it had been during that point in Tokyo 2020.
The next summer Olympics and Paralympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.
Until then, we have the 2026 Winter Games in Italy to look forward to — as well as the appearance of beloved U.S. Olympians including rugby player Ilona Maher and gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.
Copyright 2024 NPR
