2008 Summer Paralympics highlights

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2008 Summer Paralympics
Torch relay Opening ceremony (flag bearers) Medal table Events Closing ceremony Highlights
IPC · BOCOG

This page contains notable highlights from the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.

1 Calendar 2 September 6 3 Day 1: September 7 4 Day 2: September 8 5 Day 3: September 9 6 Day 4: September 10 7 Day 5: September 11 8 Day 6: September 12 9 Day 7: September 13 10 Day 8: September 14 11 Day 9: September 15 12 Day 10: September 16 13 Day 11: September 17 14 See also 15 References

Opening Ceremony

Wikinews has related news: Paralympic highlights: September 7, 2008

• The first gold medal of the Beijing Paralympics went to Slovakia's Veronika Vadovicova in shooting, in the 10 metre air rifle competition.^[1]
• In swimming, Natalie du Toit of South Africa won gold in the 100 metre butterfly event. The United States won four of the sixteen gold medals available in swimming on day one, more than any other country.^[2]
• After a strong performance at the Olympics, Great Britain won gold in all three of the first day events it had entered in cycling, with Simon Richardson, Darren Kenny, and the duo of Aileen McGlynn and Ellen Hunter.^[3]
• Of the four gold medals available for the first day in judo, the two women's went to China (Guo Huaping and Cui Na) and the two men's to Algeria (Mouloud Noura and Sidali Lamri), with all four wins being reported as unexpected.^[4]

Gold Medalists
Sport	Event	Competitor(s)	NOC	Rec	Ref
Cycling	Men's 1km Time Trial (LC 3-4)	Simon Richardson	Great Britain	WR	[5]
Cycling	Women's 1km Time Trial (B&VI 1-3)	Aileen McGlynn Ellen Hunter	Great Britain	WR	[6]
Cycling	Men's Individual Pursuit (CP 3)	Darren Kenny	Great Britain		[7]
Cycling	Men's Individual Pursuit (CP 4)	Christopher Scott	Australia		[8]
Cycling	Men's Ind. Pursuit (B&VI 1-3)	Kieran Modra Tyson Lawrence	Australia	WR	[9]
Judo	Women -48 kg	Guo Huaping	China		[10]
Judo	Women -52 kg	Cui Na	China		[11]
Judo	Men -60 kg	Mouloud Noura	Algeria		[12]
Judo	Men -66 kg	Sidali Lamri	Algeria		[13]
Shooting	Women's R2-10m Air Rifle Stand-SH1	Veronika Vadovicova	Slovakia		[14]
Shooting	Men's P1-10m Air Pistol-SH1	Valeriy Ponomarenko	Russia	WR / PB	[15]
Swimming	Men's 200m Freestyle - S2	Dmitry Kokarev	Russia	WR	[16]
Swimming	Men's 100m Butterfly - S13	Dzmitry Salei	Belarus	WR	[17]
Swimming	Women's 100m Butterfly - S13	Valerie Grand Maison	Canada		[18]
Swimming	Men's 100m Freestyle - S3	Du Jianping	China	WR	[19]
Swimming	Men's 100m Freestyle - S4	David Smetanine	France		[20]
Swimming	Women's 100m Freestyle - S4	Nely Miranda	Mexico		[21]
Swimming	Men's 100m Freestyle - S5	Daniel Dias	Brazil	WR	[22]
Swimming	Women's 100m Freestyle - S5	Maria Teresa Perales	Spain	WR	[23]
Swimming	Men's 200m IM - SM6	Sascha Kindred	Great Britain	WR	[24]
Swimming	Women's 200m IM - SM6	Miranda Uhl	United States	WR	[25]
Swimming	Men's 200m IM - SM7	Rudy Garcia Tolson	United States	WR	[26]
Swimming	Women's 200m IM - SM7	Erin Popovich	United States	WR	[27]
Swimming	Men's 100m Butterfly - S8	Peter Luck	Australia	WR	[28]
Swimming	Women's 100m Butterfly - S8	Jessica Long	United States		[29]
Swimming	Men's 100m Butterfly - S9	Tamas Sors	Hungary	WR	[30]
Swimming	Women's 100m Butterfly - S9	Natalie Du Toit	South Africa	WR	[31]

• The women's T54 5000 metre race in athletics was marred by a spectacular crash just before the final lap, when six athletes collided in a pile-up, several of them damaging their wheelchairs in the process and thus being left unable to complete the race. The crash was reported to have been caused by Swiss athlete Edith Hunkeler colliding with fellow Swiss athlete Sandra Graf, whereupon athletes behind them piled up over them. Hunkeler suffered a broken collarbone in the accident. Reaching the 50 metre mark, remaining competitors were then impeded by officials running across the track to assist fallen athletes. The race was won by Canada's Diane Roy, and the medal ceremony was completed, before IPC officials announced that they had ruled in favour of an appeal lodged by three countries, and cancelled the results. Medallists were asked to relinquish their medals, and the race was rescheduled for September 12 (with Hunkeler being disqualified), amidst significant controversy.^{[32] [33]}
• 13 year-old Eleanor Simmonds of Great Britain became the youngest ever individual Paralympic gold medallist when she won the 100m freestyle S6 event in swimming.^[34]
• Osamah Alshanqiti won Saudi Arabia's first ever Paralympic or Olympic gold medal, in the F12 triple jump, with a world record jump of 15.37 metres.^{[35] [36]}
  
• The People's Republic of China relay team of Zong Kai, Zhao Ji, Zhang Lixin & Li Huzhao sets a new world record of 49.89 seconds in round 1, heat 1 of the men's 4x100m, T53-54.

• Great Britain won five more gold medals in cycling, bringing its total to nine golds and one silver in cycling. Of Britain's six cycling competitors on day 3, five took gold and the sixth, Rik Waddon, took silver behind fellow British athlete Darren Kenny in the 1km CP3 time trial.^[37]
• Haider Ali won Pakistan's first ever Paralympic medal, a silver in the F37/38 long jump, with a world record jump. Farhat Chida of Tunisia broke Ali's new world record to take gold.^[38]
• Laurentia Tan won Singapore's first ever Paralympic medal, a bronze in equestrian in the individual championship test Grade Ia.^[39][40]
• Oscar Pistorius of South Africa won the first of his three targeted gold medals, in the T44 100 metre sprint in athletics.^[41]
• Chantal Petitclerc of Canada sets a Paralympic record of 16.07 seconds in round 1, heat 1 of the women's 100m, T54.
  
• Men's 4x100m relay, T53-54 – China (Zong Kai, Zhao Ji, Zhang Lixin & Li Huzhao) won in 49.90, ahead of Thailand (Supachoi Koysub, Konjen, Prawat Wahoram & Pichet Krungget), 51.93 and Republic of Korea (Hong Suk-Man, Jung Dong-Ho, Kim Gyu-Dae & Yoo Byung-Hoon), 53.52.
• Pakistani powerlifter Ahmed Butt was the first athlete to be expelled from the Beijing Paralympics after testing positive for steroid use.^[42]

• Women's 100m, T54 – Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won in 16.15 seconds, ahead of Liu Wenjun, China, 16.20 and Dong Hongjiao, China, 16.24.
  
• Men's 400m, T54 -- Zhang Lixin, China won in 45.07 seconds, a new world record, ahead of David Weir, Britain, 46.02 and Saichon Konjen, Thailand, 46.86.

• Women's 400m, T54 – Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won in 52.02 seconds, ahead of Tatyana McFadden, United, 53.49 and Diane Roy, Canada, 54.72.
  
• Zhang Lixin of China sets a world record of 24.18 seconds in round 1, heat 2 of the men's 200m, T54.
• Men's 400m, T52 - Tomoya Ito of Japan won in 57.25 seconds (Paralympic Record) ahead of Toshihiro Takada, Japan, 60.32 and Dean Bergeron, Canada, 60.43 seconds.

• Women's 200m, T54 – Chantal Petitclerc, Canada, won in 27.52 seconds (setting a world record), ahead of Tatyana McFadden, United States, 28.43 and Manuela Schar, Switzerland, 28.84.
  
• Women's 800m, T54 – Petitclerc won in 1:45.19 (a new world record), ahead of McFadden, USA, 1:46.95 and Diane Roy, Canada, 1:48.07.
  
• Men;s 200m, T54 -- Zhang Lixin, China, won in 24.34, ahead of Saichon Konjen, Thailand, 25.15 and Leo-Pekka Tahti, Finland, 25.17
  
• Men's 4x400m relay, T53-54 – China (Cui Yangfeng, Zhao Ji, Li Huzhao & Zhang Lixin) won in 3:05.67 (a new world record), ahead of Thailand (Koysub, Wahoram, Krungget & Saichon Konjen), 3:11.63 and France (Julien Casoli, Pierre Fairbank, Alain Fuss & Denis Lemeunier), 3 :17.93. It is Zhang Lixin's fourth gold medal of the Games, and all with new world record times during the competition.
• As the cycling competitions come to a close, Great Britain has by far dominated the events, winning seventeen gold medals.^[43]

• Francis Kompaon wins Papua New Guinea's first ever Paralympic or Olympic medal - a silver in the Men's 100m (T46), in athletics. Kompaon finishes second to Australia's Heath Francis by 0.05 seconds.^[44]

• Women's 1500m, T54 – Chantal Petitclerc of Canada wins her fifth gold medal of the Games in 3:39.88, ahead of Shelly Woods, Britain, 3:40.99 and Edith Hunkeler, Switzerland, 3:41.03.
• Oscar Pistorius of South Africa wins the third of his three targeted gold medals, in the Men's 400m - T44 category, in athletics.^[45]
• Men's 800m, T52 - Tomoya Ito of Japan won his second gold medal of the Games in 1:53.42, ahead of Toshihiro Takada, Japan, 1:53.67 and Thomas Geierspichler, Austria, 1:56.26. Tomoya Ito marked world record at round 1

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Closing Ceremony

• 2008 Summer Paralympics medal table
• 2008 Summer Olympics highlights