The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was first time the new Paralympic logo featured in the Summer Paralympics since its rebranding after the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
Dylan Martin Alcott, is an Australian former wheelchair tennis player, former wheelchair basketball player, radio host and motivational speaker. Alcott was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, known colloquially as the Australian "Rollers". At the age of 17, he became the youngest Rollers gold medal winner, at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and was the youngest to compete in the wheelchair basketball competition. In 2014, he returned to wheelchair tennis with the aim of participating at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, at which he won gold medals in the Men's Quad Singles and Doubles. He was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio.
The Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team represents Great Britain in international wheelchair rugby. Great Britain is the most successful team in European competition, winning six gold medals at the European Championship and a gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games. Since a national poll as part of The Last Leg, the team have been known as The Sweet Chariots.'
Mandip Sehmi is a British wheelchair rugby player.
Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 164 nations participating, 19 more than in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. As such, the 2000 Sydney Games, regarded as one of the more successful Games, became a point-of-reference and an inspiration in the development of the 2012 London Games.
Ryley Batt, is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won two gold and one silver medal at five Paralympic Games.
Sam McIntosh is an Australian Paralympic athlete who races in the T52 100m, 200m, and 400m events. He holds 3 Australian National Records and 2 Oceania Records. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in athletics as well as the 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2019 Para Athletic World Championships.
Amit Kumar Saroha, also known as Amit Kumar Kumar or simply Amit Kumar, is a Paralympian, Asian Para Games medalist and an Arjuna Awardee, competing in the F51 category in Discus throw and Club throw. He is one of India's top Para athletes and the first quadriplegic to represent India at a Paralympic Games. He trains at the Sports Authority of India in Sonipat and is being supported by the GoSports Foundation
Aaron David Phipps is a British wheelchair rugby player and gold medal-winning paralympian.
Steve Brown is a television presenter, public speaker, athlete mentor and a former member and captain of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad.
Bulbul Hussain is a British wheelchair rugby player who plays for Kent Crusaders and the Great Britain Paralympic team. He plays mostly in a defensive role.
Brent Lakatos is a Canadian wheelchair racer in the T53 classification. Lakatos has represented Canada at three Summer Paralympics, and at the 2012 Games he won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events. In 2013 Lakatos reached the pinnacle of his sport when he collected four gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and became world champion at his classification in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
James Roberts MBE is a wheelchair basketball player and Paralympic athlete based in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, Wales. Roberts was born with a disability called femoral dysplasia. He started out in his sporting career as a swimmer, and progressed on to other Paralympic sports, such as rowing and sitting volleyball. He competed for Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, finishing fifth in the trunk and arm classification in adaptive rowing. He also competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, finishing 8th in the sitting volleyball. More recently he has begun playing wheelchair basketball for local side Rhyl Raptors.
Peter Genyn is a Paralympian sportsman from Belgium. Initially Genyn competed as a wheelchair rugby player before switching to track and field athletics in 2014 where he competes in category T51 sprint events. In 2016 he became the world record holder in the T51 men's 400 metres sprint.
Richard "Bear" Peter is a Canadian First Nations wheelchair basketball and para-badminton player. Peter was born in Duncan, British Columbia, and currently resides in Vancouver. When Richard was four years old, he was injured in a bus accident, leaving him in a wheelchair ever since. He began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 15 when he was inspired by a team that came to his school and introduced him to wheelchair sports. Since then, Peter has competed in the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games, winning the gold metal for wheelchair basketball for three of those years.
Australia participated at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. It sent its largest away team - 179 athletes to a Summer Paralympics. Australia finished eighth on the gold medal table and sixth on the total medals table.
Louise Hunt is a British wheelchair tennis player who competed in international level events. She was a former world number 2 in the junior wheelchair tennis singles rankings, and 10 in the women’s international rankings. She is a colour badge holder as she competed in 2 Paralympic Games and 13 World Team Cups around the world. She got bronze at the 2011 BNP Paribas World Team Cup and silver medalist at the 2012 BNP Paribas World Team Cup. Louise is now an athlete mentor and unique motivational speaker. Hunt is an international tournament director and professional commentator, commentating at events such and Wimbledon, World masters and the Paralympics.
Gemma Collis is a British Paralympic wheelchair fencer who competed in the Paralympics in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Gemma is a 15 time World Cup medallist, and is currently aiming for Paris 2024. She is vice-chair of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation's Wheelchair Fencing Athletes' Council and a member of the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Gender Equity Commission.
Nathan Maguire is a British wheelchair racer. He won multiple medals at both the 2018 and 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships, and also won the 400 metres mixed class race at multiple British Athletics Championships. Maguire competed in the 4 × 400 metres relay T53/T54 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and competed in the 400 metres T54, 800 metres T54 and mixed 4 × 100 metres relay events at the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics. He was part of the British team that won a silver medal in the 2020 Paralympic mixed 4 × 100 metres relay. He also competed for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and won the 1500 metres T54 event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Jack Dalziel Smith in Stockton-on-Tees is a British wheelchair rugby athlete and member of the Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team where the team won the final on the 29th August 2021 and received gold medals. He was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
Great Britain
