Brazil sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, in August 2008. Brazilian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1920, except the 1928 Summer Olympics. The country is represented by the Brazilian Olympic Committee. Brazil headed to the Beijing Games with its largest Olympic delegation ever, 277 athletes, including a record 132 women. The 17 medals won by Brazil topped the previous medal count record set in 1996, and included the first individual and gold medals by women, by judoka Ketleyn Quadros and jumper Maurren Maggi, respectively. Three of the medals were gold, by Maggi, swimmer César Cielo and the female volleyball team.
Russia competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China, represented by the Russian Olympic Committee. Russia competed in all sports except baseball, football, field hockey, softball and taekwondo.
Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom; athletes from Northern Ireland, who may elect to hold Irish citizenship under the pre-1999 article 2 of the Irish constitution, are able to be selected to represent either Great Britain or Ireland at the Paralympics. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Paralympic competition.
Cycling at the 2008 Summer Paralympics consisted of 44 events in two main disciplines, track cycling and road cycling. Track cycling was held in Laoshan Velodrome on 7–10 September, and road cycling took place at the Changping Triathlon Venue on 12–14 September.
The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. A total of 213 U.S. competitors took part in 18 sports; the only 2 sports Americans did not compete in were soccer 5-a-side and 7-a-side. The American delegation included 16 former members of the U.S. military, including 3 veterans of the Iraq War. Among them were shot putter Scott Winkler, who was paralyzed in an accident in Iraq, and swimmer Melissa Stockwell, a former United States Army officer who lost her left leg to a roadside bomb in the war.
Canada sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. 143 Canadian athletes competed in 17 sports. Canada also sent several officials to the games, including Tara Grieve in boccia and Andrew Smith in rowing. Canada finished seventh on the medal table at the Beijing games after finishing third on the medal table at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Swimmer Donovan Tildesley, a world record-holder and medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Paralympics, was the country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The delegation is headed by Chef de Mission Debbie Low.
Belgium sent a delegation of 21 athletes to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The nominated athletes are listed below with their individual classification and disciplines.
Kieran John Modra is a visually impaired Australian Paralympic swimmer and tandem cyclist. He has won five gold and five bronze medals at eight Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2016, along with two silver medals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Darren Kenny is a British road and track racing cyclist and Paralympian. Kenny's results have made him one of his sport's biggest stars.
The Men's individual pursuit at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place on 7 August at the Laoshan Velodrome. The pre-event favorite to win the gold medal was reigning champion, Darren Kenny of Great Britain.
This page contains notable highlights from the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.
The Men's individual pursuit at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place on August 7 at the Laoshan Velodrome.
So Wa Wai is a retired athlete from Hong Kong who has competed in the Paralympic Games on four occasions, winning 11 medals.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Michael Thomas Gallagher, OAM is an Australian Paralympic cyclist from Scotland. He has won gold medals at the Beijing and 2012 London Paralympics. He was selected in the Australian team for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) revealed that Gallagher had returned a positive A sample for erythropoietin (EPO) in an out-of-competition training camp in Italy in July 2016. This A positive disqualified him from the Rio Paralympics.
Bryce Lindores is an Australian Paralympic tandem cyclist.
The Women's individual pursuit event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place on September 9 at the Laoshan Velodrome.
Sara Head is a Welsh Paralympic table tennis player. Head has represented Wales at two Commonwealth Games and was selected for the 2012 Paralympic Games, where she took the bronze medal in the women's team class 1–3 event with team-mate Jane Campbell.
The Men's Individual Pursuit B track cycling event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics took place on September 8. This class is for blind and visually impaired cyclists riding with a sighted pilot. Sixteen pairs from 11 different nations compete.
