Jaw-dropping feats of resilience. World records. Power couples. Shocking upsets and surprising underdog victories. Heartwarming sportsmanship. Memes. Emotional catharsis. And new breakout stars. The 2024 Paralympics had it all, set among Paris’ most iconic monuments.
Some people mistakenly think the “Para” in Paralympics stands for paraplegia, but the origin of the word stems from the Greek preposition “para,” which means “beside” or “along.” As such, the Paralympics were designed to be the parallel Games to the Olympics for athletes with disabilities, rooted in the core values of determination, equality, inspiration, and courage.
And each of those values shone bright over 12 days of competition across 18 different venues in 22 sports — including two that are unique to the Paralympics: boccia and goalball.
As the world’s third largest sporting event (measured by ticket sales), the Paralympics have been regarded as “the world’s No. 1 sporting event for social inclusion,” helping to promote the rights of persons with disabilities
With countless moments to choose from, here’s a roundup of Team USA’s “Nicest” moments from this year’s Paralympics.
Three-Peat Gold Rushes for Team USA
Within hours of each other, the women’s sitting national volleyball and men’s wheelchair basketball teams won gold on the final night of Paralympic competition, marking a historic three-peat gold for each sport. The women’s sitting team win extended their streak of medaling at every Paralympic Games since the sport’s introduction for women at Athens 2004.
The Power of a Positive Mindset
After finishing fifth in the T63 high jump at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, then-16-year-old Ezra Frech was “heartbroken.” But that disappointing loss has ignited a passion within French, which he has referred to as his origin story, to become the greatest Paralympian of all time.
With his sights set on joining the ranks of the most-decorated Paralympians, French, 19, is making strides — and has embodied the power of a positive mindset and declaring one’s goals in his journey. Prior to Paris, he declared that he would win gold in the high jump. And that he did.
“In order to accomplish something, you have to believe you’re capable of it first. I think that’s the first step. I don’t think you stumble upon greatness,” French told Nice News at the Paralympics, adding of his belief in manifestation: “I fell in love with this idea that I was going to say something crazy, people were going to tell me that’s probably not going to happen … and then I was going to do everything in my power to make it happen.”
As part of his manifestation routine, French began a 100-day countdown to his victories, leading up to his gold in the 100-meter sprint on day 99 — an event he was not favored to win — as well as gold in his high jump victory, which saw him set a new Paralympic record.
Looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, French is carrying on his manifestation practice as he sets his sights on achieving the “triple crown” of track and field: gold in the high jump, long jump, and 100-meter sprint.
Jessica Long Surpasses Michael Phelps’ Record
Six-time Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long picked up two gold medals, in the S8 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly events. Long now has 31 total medals, including 18 golds, which surpasses the Olympic swimming total medals record held by Michael Phelps and makes her the second most-decorated American Paralympian in history, after the legendary Trischa Zorn with 55 medals. The 32-year-old, who competed in her first Paralympic Games in Athens at age 12 as the youngest athlete on the U.S. Paralympic swim team, has been named one of Sports Illustrated‘s “World’s Best Female Athletes.”
Sarah Adam Shatters a Glass Ceiling
Sarah Adam became the first, and only, woman to join the USA wheelchair rugby team at any Paralympic Games — and she marked the historic occasion with style, scoring a goal in her Paralympic debut on Thursday, Aug. 29.
She said post-match, “It is a really exciting time for women in sports. It is great to see us getting the recognition we’ve always deserved. I am so glad that fans will have the opportunity to fall in love with our stories and our sports and to get to do all this alongside this amazing team is truly an honor. I have worked hard to become an elite athlete and am proud to be part of this team.
Adam went on to become a team leader for the wheelchair rugby team as they advanced to earn silver.
The Paris Olympics and Paralympics’ Golden Couple
One of the most iconic celebrations to come out of the Paris Olympics was Hunter Woodhall’s emotional and ecstatic embrace of his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, immediately after she won gold in the women’s long jump. Their poignant love and support for each other at the Games, which is also evidenced on their popular YouTube channel and social media accounts, captured the heart of the world.
At the Paralympics, it was a poetic role reversal in the same Stade de France just a few weeks later. After earning gold in the men’s T62 400-meter, Woodhall ran directly to Davis-Woodhall, celebrating his win and their newfound status as a gold medal-winning couple.
Speaking of power couples, U.S. women’s rugby Sevens bronze medal Olympian Ariana Ramsey was also in Paris to cheer on her partner, Paralympic sprinter Noah Malone, as he earned a gold (T12 100-meter), silver (T12 400-meter), and bronze (4×100-meter universal relay).
USA Triathlon Becomes the Winningest Paratriathlon Team Ever
Team USA earned the distinction of the most successful paratriathlon team in Paralympic history, after notching an unprecedented number of medals in Paris. The eight-medal performance — including three golds (from Grace Norman, Hailey Danz, and Chris Hammer) — is the best for any country in paratriathlon history at a single Games and the third straight Paralympics that the U.S. has won the paratriathlon medal count.
The First Armless Archer to Win Gold
Matt Stutzman made history as the first armless archer to win a Paralympic gold medal. The four-time Paralympian earned his first ever gold in the men’s individual compound open with a bullseye that went viral, after not achieving a podium result the past two Paralympic games. Stutzman told Nice News that competing from a place of joy and a desire to make memories, versus hyperfixating on a gold result, was the mentality shift that helped him ultimately achieve gold.
Stutzman started his career as a pioneer, as the first person to compete without using fingers, wrists, or triceps in the compound open bow event at the Paralympics. When he earned a silver medal in his first Paralympic Games, London 2012, he changed perceptions about what’s possible in the sport of archery, and inspired a new generation of para-archers.
Sheetal Devi, who competed for India at this year’s Games and took home a bronze medal, cites Stutzman as her inspiration. Even though the two compete for different countries, Devi looks up to Stutzman as her mentor, underscoring the sportsmanship of the Paralympic movement.
Badminton Posts Its First Medal
Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon made history as the first Team USA athletes to medal in the sport of badminton at either the Paralympic or Olympic Games. Their rise to silver in the mixed-doubles event represents a true underdog story that captured the hearts of the nation.
The 19-year-olds, who were not expected to get a podium finish coming into the Games, defeated the world’s No. 2 ranked Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sivan of India twice.
“Nobody expected to come in and get a silver medal,” Krejewski said in a post-match interview with Team USA. “But deep down, we knew that we had a chance to win it all. So, we came out here, we played our best, and we ended up in the finals.”
Breaking the Internet
The Paralympics lit up social media, with Olympians like Simone Biles and celebrities like Jackie Chan, Snoop Dogg, and Flava Flav hyping up the Paralympians.
So many breakthrough moments trended on social media, including:
- Ali Truwit winning double silver just over a year after losing her leg in a shark attack — and then being invited by Tom Cruise to visit him on set
- Mallory Weggeman winning her first gold 17 months after giving birth to her daughter Charlotte
- John Boie becoming the kingpin of the Paralympic Village
- Arelle Middleton, 16, becoming the youngest Team USA medalist at the Paralympics
- Oksana Masters cementing her GOAT status with a “goat pin”
As International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said in his remarks at the closing ceremony, “We all have a collective responsibility to use the momentum of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to make the world around us more inclusive. What a Paralympic legacy this would be, not just for these athletes, but the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities that they represent. … We must enable and empower persons with disabilities to excel outside of the field of play, in education, in employment, in entertainment, in government, in civil society — everywhere!”
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