2008

Summer Paralympic Games

Beijing.

Ping Yali (bottom R), the first Paralympic gold medallist in China's history, carries the torch during the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games at the National Stadium,

also known as the "Bird's Nest" in the Chinese capital on September 6, 2008.

American Team enters the field during the Parade of Nations portion of the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Paralympic Games at the National

Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China.

Performers take part in the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6,

2008 in Beijing, China.

Hou Bin of China, a Paralympic Gold medallist climbs a rope to light the Paralympic flame during the Opening Ceremony for the

Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China.

Germany's Marc Schuh pushes to start off in the Men's 400m T54 (spinal cord disability) competition for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic

Games held in Beijing, China, Monday, Sep. 8, 2008.

Brazil's Severino Silva (#8) defends against Spain's Jose Lopez (#7) who tries to connect on a shot in front of Brazilian

goalkeeper Fabio Vasconcelos Ribeiro (L) in their men's 5-a-side football match during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on

September 9, 2008 at the Olympic Green hockey field in Beijing. Brazil defeated Spain 1-0 in a sport where each team fields four blind players and one sighted or visually impaired goalkeeper.

Brazil's Damiao Ramos (C) and Marcos Felipe (L) appeal to referee Jean Luc Lescouezec (R) of France in their game

against Spain in a men's 5-a-side football match during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing. Partially sighted players wear blindfolds to allow

competition on equal terms with blind players.

Mickens Donte of the United States competes

in the Men's Group A Preliminaries Goalball

event between the United States and Brazil at the

Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium during day three of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing, China. Goalball is

a game played by two teams of three partially sighted or blind players. They try to score goals

with a large ball containing bells, allowing players to hear oncoming

throws.

Edward Munro shouts after a

successful play as he competes in the

Goalball match between the USA and Sweden at

Beijing Institute of Technology

Gymnasium during day five of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 11, 2008 in Beijing.

Melissa Stockwell, right, of the United States, chats with coach Jimi Flowers during a U.S. team training session for

the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games,

at the National Aquatics Center,

known as the Water Cube, in Beijing Friday Sept. 5,

2008. Stockwell is one of two U.S.

veterans competing in Beijing who were

injured in Iraq.

Rudy Garcia Tolson of the U.S. swims during the men's 200m individual medley SM7 heat

at the 2008 Paralympics in the National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water

Cube, in Beijing September 7, 2008.

Oscar Pistorius (R) of South Africa, Jerome Singleton (C) of the United States, and

Christoph Bausch (L) of Switzerland compete in the Men's 100m T44 Final Athletics event at the National Stadium during day three of the

2008 Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing.

April Holmes of USA falls as Marie-Amelie le Fur of France, center, and Maya Nakanishi of

Japan try to avoid her in the Women's 200m T44 final during the Beijing

2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium

in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008.

Athletes look at injured April Holmes of USA, center, after she fell and was struck by another runners cleat in the Women's 200m

T44 finals in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008.

Partially-sighted runner Daniel Silva of Brazil (R) runs alongside his guide as he

wins the B final of the 100m

T11 during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic

Games in the Chinese capital on September

9, 2008.

Yunidis Castillo of Cuba (C) wins gold in

the final of the womens's

100m T46 race from Elena

Chistilina (R) and Nikol

Rodomakina (L) of Russia during the

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on

September 10, 2008.

Edith Hunkeler (L) of Switzerland leads before crashing out in the final of the women's 5000 metre T54 classification race at the

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing on September 8, 2008. Diane Roy of Canada won the race with Shelly Woods of Great

Britain second and Amanda McGrory of the US third.

Athletes crash in the women's 5000m T54 final during the 2008 Beijing

Paralympic Games at the National Stadium in the Chinese capital on

September 8, 2008.

Gabon's Thierry Mabicka, left reacts after he was disqualified in the Men's 800m T54 competitions at the Beijing

2008 Paralympic Games held in Beijing, China, Thursday, Sep. 11, 2008.

Mabicka's was an apparent equipment disqualification for attempting to race others with a non-racing wheelchair.

Prawat Wahoram of Thailand celebrates

after winning the final of the men's 5000

metre T54 classification event at

the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing on September 11, 2008. David Weir (L) of Britain finished

third.

Russia's Sergey Sevostyanov, right, jumps as his guide, left, looks on during the

men's Triple Jump F11at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Friday, Sept.

12, 2008.

A Brazilian wheelchair

basketball player holds a ball during training inside the

National Indoor Stadium ahead of

the Paralympic Games in Beijing

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.

Great Britain's Terence Bywater (#7) and Australia's Brad Ness (#15) lend a hand to help up Abdillah Jama as Grant Mizens (#12) and Peter Finbow (L) look on in their men's wheelchair basketball preliminary match

during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 8, 2008 at the National Indoor Stadium.

Australia defeated Great Britain 67-48.

Children who were injured in the Sichuan earthquake watch the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at Sichuan

Province Orthopedic Center on September 6, 2008 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province.

Athletes test their tricycles through a tunnel at the

Olympic National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest",

ahead of the Paralympic Games in Beijing Wednesday,

Sept 3, 2008.

Greece's Grigorios Polychronidis prepares to throw a ball during the Individual Boccia-3

semifinal match against South Korea's Jeong Ho-won at the Paralympic games in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. Paralympic

Boccia is open to players with cerebral palsy and other major physical disabilities.

Germany's Rainer Schmidt serves a ball during a bronze medal Singles Standing Class 6 Table Tennis match against Netherland's

Blok Nico at the Paralympic Games in

Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008. Nico went on

to win the bronze medal.

Bennett Eric of the United States competes in the Men's Ind. Compound-Open Archery

event at the Olympic Green Archery Field during day four of the 2008 Paralympic

Games on September 10, 2008 in Beijing.

Mark Zupan (L) of USA and Shao Dequan (2nd-R) of China compete in the Wheelchair Rugby match between USA and China at Beijing

Science and Technology University Gymnasium during day six of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 12, 2008 in Beijing, China.

Margaryta Pryvalykhina (#1) of Ukraine hits a shot to Latvia during their sitting volleyball classification match at the Beijing

2008 Paralympic Games September 11, 2008.

Tom Aggar of Great Britain celebrates after winning the

Rowing Men's Single Sculls Final at Shunyi

Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park during day five of the 2008

Paralympic Games on September 11, 2008

in Beijing.

Erin Popovich of the United States wins the gold medal in the Women's 100m

Freestyle - S7 Final at the National Aquatics Center during day two of the 2008 Paralympic Games September 8,

2008 in Beijing.

Paralympian fencer Yu Chui Yee poses prior to a training session at the Sports Institute in Hong Kong on August 4, 2008. Hong Kong's Yu Chui Yee fenced her way to four gold medals at the

Paralympic Games in 2004 but she faces an epic battle in Beijing as she sets out to defend her titles against new-comers China. Yu's team brought home 14 medals including eight golds from

Athens, well ahead of nearest challengers and traditional powerhouses France and Poland.

Ireland's Gabriel Shelly, left, along with his coach celebrates after

winning the bronze medal in Boccia-1 match against China's Wang Yi at the

Paralympic games in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008

A prosthetic leg and other belongings of participants are placed on the ground

before the awarding ceremony of the Rowing

Mixed Coxed Four LTA final at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games,

September 11, 2008.

Roelof.