If you’ve found yourself in the same situation as many people on TikTok and X, wondering where you’re going to get your serotonin fix now that the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are over, you’re in luck. Tomorrow, on August 28, you can tune in to watch the 2024 Paralympics athletes compete for gold.
The Paralympics Games were created to give an international stage for disabled athletes to compete — this year there will be around 4,400 athletes participating. The Paralympics function similarly to the Olympics, with slight differences that give the athletes equal opportunities.
Though it hasn’t always been the case, the Paralympics are held in the same locations as the Olympics, staged just a few weeks after. This is to ensure the Paralympians are not overshadowed by Olympians and to give the spaces enough time to ensure proper accommodations are made for Paralympic athletes.
Additionally, Paralympians are giving qualification scores that determine what events they can participate in. Similarly to weight classes in wrestling, athletes are placed into categories that usually combine a letter and a number. Visually impaired athletes compete against other visually impaired athletes and amputees compete against other amputees. Chuck Aoki, wheelchair rugby player for Team USA, explains more about it here.
Another great example is the 4x100m Universal Relay that Team USA won gold for in Tokyo: Each leg of the relay is competed by people with different disabilities — the first 100 is visually impaired, the second is ambulatory athletes, the third is Cerebral Palsy, the fourth is wheelchair. You can watch Team USA break the world record in 2021 here.
So, in order to prepare you to watch the Paralympics, just like Ilona Maher, Tara Davis-Woodhall, and Simone Biles want you to, here are some Team USA athletes you should be excited to watch.
Athletes You Should Know
Hunter Woodhall
Woodhall is aiming for his fourth medal in track and field — hopefully a gold — at this year’s Games. The double amputee (and first double amputee with a Division I track and field scholarship) has amassed a following on TikTok as he’s shared his story, including the difficulties of prosthetics breaking mid-race. What else should you know about him? He’s probably one of the most supportive husband’s of this year’s Olympics, cheering on Davis-Woodhall, his wife, as she won gold. Though fans are probably excited for his super-star running talents, they’re probably equally excited to watch Davis-Woodhall to support her husband this time.
Woodhall will be competing in a men’s 100m heat (and hopefully the finals for that event) on starting September 1 and a men’s 400m.
Chuck Aoki
Though he grew up playing wheelchair basketball, Aoki is now a silver and bronze wheelchair rugby medalist, looking forward to playing again this year. He’s taken to TikTok to describe more about how the Games work and his experience as a rugby player. Team USA, as part of group A, will be playing on August 29, 30, and 31. Finals will follow if Team USA makes it through the first round. Hopefully Team USA will make even more rugby news than Maher and the women’s Olympic team did.
Kaleo Maclay
When she entered her first Paralympic Games to play sitting volleyball, Maclay was only 16. Now, she’s 28. She’s shared online what it was like to go back to playing after becoming a mother to two babies. The US women’s team will be in Pool A and will be competing in the preliminary rounds on August 30 and September 1 and 3. If the team makes it through the first round, the next rounds will follow.
Lizzi Smith
Smith, a one-handed swimmer, is a three-time medalist. Though prosthetics are not allowed in Paralympic swimming, she’s taken to social media to show off how she uses her bionic arm and to talk about being an elite swimmer. She’s looking forward to shining a spotlight on the Paralympics this year. Smith will be swimming in a 100m backstroke on September 3 and 100m butterfly on September 6.
Deb Chucoski
Visually impaired Chucoski competes with her guide in the Para Triathlon, as shown in a video uploaded by Team USA’s TikTok page. Chucoski will be competing in a women’s triathlon on September 2.
Nick Mayhugh, Brittni Mason, Noah Malone, and Tatyana McFadden
These are the four athletes who competed in the record-breaking 4×100 at the last Paralympics, explained above. And they’ll all be competing again in Paris this summer. Mayhugh has chronicled his journey and story on his TikTok, including giving props to his 2021 teammates. He’s played soccer since he was a kid and played in college and has only been competing in track and field since 2019.
Mason will be running in the first weekend of the Paralympics, competing in 100m and 200m races while Malone will be in 100m (August 30) and 400m dashes (September 3). McFadden, a 20-time medalist (who has competed in both the Winter and Summer Paralympics), will also be competing in Para Athletics.
Lex Gillette
Gillette, a long jumper, is visually impaired. However, in order to level the playing field, Gillette is required to wear a blindfold. This ensures that all athletes have the same level of impairment. In partnership with Nike, Gillette created a blindfold — better than the simple sleep masks he was using before. Written in braille on the inside of his mask are the words “no fear,” a reminder for when he’s competing. On August 30, Gillette will be competing in a long jump.
Ali Truwit
Though she used to swim for Yale, a shark bit off Truwit’s foot from the ankle in 2023, just a few days after her college graduation. Regaining her strength after her injury brought her back to swimming and is now bringing her to the 2024 Paralympics. Para Swimming begins on August 29.
What else to know:
- This is only 11 of the Paralympians for Team USA — there are 225 Para athletes (including 5 guides) from the US. You can meet more of the team here.
- The 22 sports in the Paralympics are blind football (soccer), boccia, goalball, Para archery, Para track and field, Para badminton, Para canoe, Para cycling, Para equestrian, Para judo, Para powerlifting, Para rowing, Para shooting, Para swimming, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo, Para triathlon, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.
- The hoop used in wheelchair basketball is at the same height as Olympic basketball courts.
- Team USA has included some pretty cool inclusive clothing in their uniforms, including this jacket made to be zipped with only one hand.
- Visually impaired athletes compete with a guide running alongside them.
- For individual sports, athletes compete in their “class.” For team sports, it’s a bit more complicated; Aoki describes that for rugby, everyone’s score has to add up to a certain number.
- There are lots of innovations that help athletes compete better, like these tappers that help tell swimmers where they are in the pool.
While you may be less familiar with the Paralympics than you are with the Olympics, they’ll be just as fun to follow — take it from Ilona Maher’s TikToks from the last Games. You can watch the Paralympics, starting with the Opening Ceremony, August 28-September 8 on Peacock, NBC, and USA Network.
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