2008 Summer Paralympic Games

From September 6th to September 17th, Beijing is once again hosting athletes from around the world. Over 4,200 athletes - from six different disability groups - from 148 countries are taking part in the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. Not only are the sports divided into events, but the events are divided into different disability categories, to even out the playing field as much as possible. The slogan for this years Paralympic Games is the same as the one for the Olympics held just last month: "One World, One Dream". (36 photos total)

Germany's Marc Schuh pushes to start off in the Men's 400m T54 (spinal cord disability) competition for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games held in Beijing, China, Monday, Sep. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Ping Yali (bottom R), the first Paralympic gold medallist in China's history, carries the torch during the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games at the National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest" in the Chinese capital on September 6, 2008. (FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) #

Performers take part in the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

Artists perform at the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Chien-min Chung/Getty Images) #

The American Team enters the field during the Parade of Nations portion of the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Chien-min Chung/Getty Images) #

Hou Bin of China, a Paralympic Gold medallist climbs a rope to light the Paralympic flame during the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium on September 6, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) #

Brazil's Severino Silva (#8) defends against Spain's Jose Lopez (#7) who tries to connect on a shot in front of Brazilian goalkeeper Fabio Vasconcelos Ribeiro (L) in their men's 5-a-side football match during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 at the Olympic Green hockey field in Beijing. Brazil defeated Spain 1-0 in a sport where each team fields four blind players and one sighted or visually impaired goalkeeper. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Brazil's Damiao Ramos (C) and Marcos Felipe (L) appeal to referee Jean Luc Lescouezec (R) of France in their game against Spain in a men's 5-a-side football match during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing. Partially sighted players wear blindfolds to allow competition on equal terms with blind players. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Mickens Donte of the United States competes in the Men's Group A Preliminaries Goalball event between the United States and Brazil at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium during day three of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing, China. Goalball is a game played by two teams of three partially sighted or blind players. They try to score goals with a large ball containing bells, allowing players to hear oncoming throws. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

Edward Munro shouts after a successful play as he competes in the Goalball match between the USA and Sweden at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium during day five of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 11, 2008 in Beijing. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images) #

Melissa Stockwell, right, of the United States, chats with coach Jimi Flowers during a U.S. team training session for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, at the National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube, in Beijing Friday Sept. 5, 2008. Stockwell is one of two U.S. veterans competing in Beijing who were injured in Iraq. (AP Photo/Greg Baker) #

Rudy Garcia Tolson of the U.S. swims during the men's 200m individual medley SM7 heat at the 2008 Paralympics in the National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water Cube, in Beijing September 7, 2008. (REUTERS/David Gray) #

Oscar Pistorius (R) of South Africa, Jerome Singleton (C) of the United States, and Christoph Bausch (L) of Switzerland compete in the Men's 100m T44 Final Athletics event at the National Stadium during day three of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008 in Beijing. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

April Holmes of USA falls as Marie-Amelie le Fur of France, center, and Maya Nakanishi of Japan try to avoid her in the Women's 200m T44 final during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) #

Athletes look at injured April Holmes of USA, center, after she fell and was struck by another runners cleat in the Women's 200m T44 finals in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) #

Partially-sighted runner Daniel Silva of Brazil (R) runs alongside his guide as he wins the B final of the 100m T11 during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in the Chinese capital on September 9, 2008. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images) #

Yunidis Castillo of Cuba (C) wins gold in the final of the womens's 100m T46 race from Elena Chistilina (R) and Nikol Rodomakina (L) of Russia during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 10, 2008. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images) #

Edith Hunkeler (L) of Switzerland leads before crashing out in the final of the women's 5000 metre T54 classification race at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing on September 8, 2008. Diane Roy of Canada won the race with Shelly Woods of Great Britain second and Amanda McGrory of the US third. (update: this race was later annulled, and re-run on Sep. 12th. Amanda McGrory took the Gold medal then) (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) #

Athletes crash in the women's 5000m T54 final during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games at the National Stadium in the Chinese capital on September 8, 2008. (update: this race was later annulled, and re-run on Sep. 12th. Amanda McGrory of the U.S. took the Gold medal then) (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) #

Gabon's Thierry Mabicka, left reacts after he was disqualified in the Men's 800m T54 competitions at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games held in Beijing, China, Thursday, Sep. 11, 2008. Mabicka's was an apparent equipment disqualification for attempting to race others with a non-racing wheelchair. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

Prawat Wahoram of Thailand celebrates after winning the final of the men's 5000 metre T54 classification event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing on September 11, 2008. David Weir (L) of Britain finished third. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) #

Russia's Sergey Sevostyanov, right, jumps as his guide, left, looks on during the men's Triple Jump F11at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) #

A Brazilian wheelchair basketball player holds a ball during training inside the National Indoor Stadium ahead of the Paralympic Games in Beijing Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) #

Great Britain's Terence Bywater (#7) and Australia's Brad Ness (#15) lend a hand to help up Abdillah Jama as Grant Mizens (#12) and Peter Finbow (L) look on in their men's wheelchair basketball preliminary match during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 8, 2008 at the National Indoor Stadium. Australia defeated Great Britain 67-48. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Children who were injured in the Sichuan earthquake watch the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at Sichuan Province Orthopedic Center on September 6, 2008 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

Athletes test their tricycles through a tunnel at the Olympic National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest", ahead of the Paralympic Games in Beijing Wednesday, Sept 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) #

Greece's Grigorios Polychronidis prepares to throw a ball during the Individual Boccia-3 semifinal match against South Korea's Jeong Ho-won at the Paralympic games in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. Paralympic Boccia is open to players with cerebral palsy and other major physical disabilities. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel) #

Germany's Rainer Schmidt serves a ball during a bronze medal Singles Standing Class 6 Table Tennis match against Netherland's Blok Nico at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008. Nico went on to win the bronze medal.(AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel) #

Eric Bennett of the United States competes in the Men's Ind. Compound-Open Archery event at the Olympic Green Archery Field during day four of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 10, 2008 in Beijing. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

Mark Zupan (L) of USA and Shao Dequan (2nd-R) of China compete in the Wheelchair Rugby match between USA and China at Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium during day six of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Guang Niu/Getty Images) #

Margaryta Pryvalykhina (#1) of Ukraine hits a shot to Latvia during their sitting volleyball classification match at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games September 11, 2008. (REUTERS/Grace Liang) #

Tom Aggar of Great Britain celebrates after winning the Rowing Men's Single Sculls Final at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park during day five of the 2008 Paralympic Games on September 11, 2008 in Beijing. (Feng Li/Getty Images) #

Erin Popovich of the United States wins the gold medal in the Women's 100m Freestyle - S7 Final at the National Aquatics Center during day two of the 2008 Paralympic Games September 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Feng Li/Getty Images) #

A prosthetic leg and other belongings of participants are placed on the ground before the awarding ceremony of the Rowing Mixed Coxed Four LTA final at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, September 11, 2008. (REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV) #

Paralympian fencer Yu Chui Yee poses prior to a training session at the Sports Institute in Hong Kong on August 4, 2008. Hong Kong's Yu Chui Yee fenced her way to four gold medals at the Paralympic Games in 2004 but she faces an epic battle in Beijing as she sets out to defend her titles against new-comers China. Yu's team brought home 14 medals including eight golds from Athens, well ahead of nearest challengers and traditional powerhouses France and Poland. (MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images) #

Ireland's Gabriel Shelly, left, along with his coach celebrates after winning the bronze medal in Boccia-1 match against China's Wang Yi at the Paralympic games in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel) #

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