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.
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events.
Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympics which wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h (18.6 mph) or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.
Malta competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China from 6 to 17 September 2008. This was the island nation's seventh appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games since their debut in 1960, but their first since the 1984 Summer Paralympics 24 years earlier. Antonio Flores, a runner, was the only athlete to represent Malta at the Games, having qualified via the 2008 British Open Athletics Championships. At the Paralympics, Flores did not qualify for the final of the men's 100 metres T44 event after placing 11th overall in the competition and fifth in his heat during the heat stages; the fastest four participants in his heat advanced to the final.
Afghanistan first competed at the Paralympic Games during the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, where it was represented by cyclists Gul Afzal and Zabet Khan.
Gabon sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. It was Gabon's first participation in the Paralympic Games.
Richard Andrew Colman is an Australian Paralympic athlete, competing mainly in category T53 sprint events. He was born with spina bifida. He represented Australia at the four Paralympics - 2004 to 2016.
El Salvador first competed in the Paralympic Games at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. It has participated in the Summer Paralympic Games every four years since that time. El Salvador has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics, and until Tokyo 2020, no Salvadorian had won a Paralympic medal. In 2021, Herbert Aceituno became the first athlete to win a medal, earning bronze in powerlifting at the 59 kg category.
Gabon made its Paralympic Games début at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, sending a single athlete to compete in track and field. Mabicka entered two events: the 800m race, and the javelin (F57/58). In the former, he was disqualified, apparently "for attempting to race others with a non-racing wheelchair". In the latter, he finished last of fourteen, his throw of 11.72m earning him 302 points.
Eric Cyril Russell, MBE is an Australian Paralympic athlete, coach, and administrator.
T35 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics' running competitions. It includes people who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. This includes people with cerebral palsy. The classification is used at the Paralympic Games. The corresponding F35 classification includes club and discus throw, shot put, and javelin.
T44 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to "Single below knee amputation or an athlete who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs." It includes ISOD A4 and A9 classes.
Matthew Cameron is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal.
Seychelles sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the second time that the country took part in the Summer Paralympic Games after it made its debut twenty-four years prior at the 1992 Summer Paralympics and established a new National Paralympic Committee with assistance from UK Sport. Discus thrower Cyril Charles was the only competitor that the nation sent to Rio de Janeiro. In his event, the men's Javelin F56–57, he ranked fourteenth and last out of all the competing athletes with a personal best throw of 16.97 metres.
Senegal sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the fourth successive appearance for the nation in a Summer Paralympic Games after it debuted at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Youssouphua Diouf, a javelin thrower, and shot put and discus thrower Daque Diop were the two athletes sent to Rio de Janeiro by Senegal. The delegation failed to win the country's first medal at the Summer Paralympics as its best performance in these Games was Diouf's seventh position in the men's javelin F56-57 event.
Gabon sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's third appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games, following their two previous participations at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Gabon sent a sole athlete to represent them at Rio de Janeiro, wheelchair racer Edmond Ngombi. He did not advance from his heat in the men's 100 metres T54 event as he came sixth out of seven competitors and attributed the result to a handlebar problem.
The Republic of the Congo competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country made its debut appearance in the Paralympics at Rio, though they had participated in eleven Summer Olympics prior to the opening of the 2016 Paralympics. They sent a single competitor, track and field athlete Bardy Bouesso. Bouesso was the flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
Cape Verde sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. This was the nations' fourth appearance at a Summer Paralympic Games since it made its debut at the 2004 Athens Summer Paralympics. Cape Verde was represented by two athletes in Rio de Janeiro: sprinter Gracelino Barbosa and javelin thrower Márcio Fernandes, who qualified for the Games by meeting the qualification standards of their events. Barbosa won the country's first Paralympic medal with his third-place finish in the men's 400 metres T20 competition and Fernandes came ninth in the F44 men's javelin event.
Afghanistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the nation's fifth time taking part in a Summer Paralympic Games. The Afghan delegation consisted of a single athlete, Mohammad Durani, who competed in the javelin throw. Originally he finished 16th in his event, but he was retroactively disqualified for a doping violation.
These defunct field events were once contested in previous Paralympic Games in which both men and women competed in various classes.
