Top 10 Incredible Viral Moments from the Paralympics

Jeez, Sarah, can you leave some accomplishments for the rest of us? Not only is the Paralympic wheelchair rugby star an associate professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University, but — oh yeah — she’s a groundbreaking athlete who helped shepherd the U.S. to a silver medal at Paris 2024. Adam, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while in grad school, commented in 2024 that “anytime I was walking, it was really slow [...] I was getting really fatigued and tripping and falling a lot and hurting myself.” Not that you’d know it from her Paralympic performance, wherein Adam became the first woman to score for her U.S. team.

You might be familiar with this Paralympic cyclist/swimmer’s long and storied career (sorry, no pun intended). Storey was already the most-lauded British Paralympian of all time, and Paris 2024 continued her streak, winning her 18th gold medal. Here’s the problem, though: Paralympics organizers made the baffling decision to cut the women’s cycling course to under half of that of the corresponding men’s race. After having won the gold medal, Storey didn’t hesitate to speak up, saying that “there’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. And having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it in para-cycling after what we had in Glasgow last year is a real disappointment.”

We’ll be getting into the British onslaught of gold medals in a little bit, but for now, we just have to draw specific attention to F20 shot put Paralympic champion Fortune. After coming in fifth at Tokyo 2020 and thus failing to medal, Fortune climbed to the top of the ranks at Paris 2024 and won Great Britain their second gold medal of that day. Commenting on the jaw-dropping circumstances of her win, Fortune was quoted as saying “I still cannot believe it, especially on the first throw. I was expecting about 14m, just a simple throw. Then I hit the world record.” Indeed, Fortune set a new world record, beating her own previous record by 29 centimeters.

This British S6 swimmer has a lot to write home about after Paris 2024. The winner of two gold medals at Tokyo 2020, in the 100 m breaststroke and 200 m individual medley respectively, Summers-Newton defended her titles in both categories in 2024. And when we say “defended her titles,” we really mean it: the decorated swimmer won gold again, finishing just over five seconds ahead of American silver medallist Ellie Marks. Described as “the face of British para swimming” by British newspaper The Independent, Summers-Newton spoke to the press about the difficulty of beating her overwhelming self-doubt, as well as the intense pressure that comes with a gold medal. Looks like she needn’t have worried much at all!

Theirs is a classic underdog story. And don’t we all love having someone in that position to root for? In a moment that absolutely no one could’ve initially predicted, the Australian team bested the favored Dutch team in a shocking turn of events that saw them overcome a seven-second lead to win the gold medal. Australia has swimmer Alexa Leary to thank for the extraordinary victory, the result of a stunning anchor leg. Leary demonstrated that she has the makings of a Paralympic superstar by also medalling to the tune of gold in the 100 m freestyle. Leary later reflected, saying “‘alright, I’m going to have to weapon myself out here, we got to take home the gold’.”

Paris 2024 has been a pretty good time to be a Paralympian, to say the least. For a bit of context, ParalympicsGB had their best day this century during the 2024 Paralympic Summer Games, winning 12 gold medals in a single day — Sunday, September 1st. According to Sky News, this surpasses the previous daily record, which was nine at both Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016. The aforementioned Sabrina Fortune was one of those extraordinary medallists, as well as mixed team sprinters Kadeena Cox, Jaco van Gass, and Jody Cundy. The streak continued with three golds in rowing, as well as four in swimming (including Summers-Newton). These victories, among others, put Great Britain at second place overall, having earned 23 golds, 12 silvers, and 8 bronzes.

Online commentators who were unfamiliar with the T11 category at the Paralympics — in which visually impaired athletes compete — discovered a whole new level of excellence at Paris 2024. Chinese jumper Di Dongdong proved to be a thrilling introduction to the sport, breaking a decade-old world record previously set by American jumper Lex Gillette. Di had previously won gold at the Tokyo edition of the games, defending his title and setting the record with a breathtaking 6.85m jump. Commenting on his win, Di was humble but clearly overjoyed, stating that “[t]he world record has been my target for a long time, getting the WR here was unexpected, that makes me even more delighted.”

To paraphrase an old sci-fi movie you may or may not have seen: never tell this para-archer the odds. Grinham, a 31-year-old Welshwoman, was born with disabilities that initially made it impossible for her to meet able-bodied archery requirements. Undeterred, she and her father, Symon, devised a system allowing her to grip the bow without it being physically attached to her body — an essential aspect of archery. To make her achievement even more remarkable, Grinham competed while seven months pregnant with her second child at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, making her the first known Paralympian to do so.

This Afghan para-taekwondo star is unstoppable. From Herat Province, Afghanistan, Khudadadi has made history with a series of groundbreaking achievements, inspired by Rohullah Nikpai, the only Afghan athlete to win an Olympic medal. Although Khudadadi represented Afghanistan at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, her participation in Paris 2024 was initially in jeopardy. Fortunately, she was evacuated from Afghanistan and went on to win bronze. With this victory, Khudadadi became the first female Afghan Paralympian since 2004, the first female Afghan athlete to compete internationally since the 2021 Taliban offensive, and the first member of the Refugee team to medal.

Just to be clear, any comparisons to Turkish sport shooter Dikeç are meant to highlight Devi’s remarkable precision and unflappable demeanor. Devi, an Indian para-archer born with the rare congenital condition phocomelia (which resulted in her being born without arms), defied all expectations by winning bronze at Paris 2024. Doctors had initially told her she’d never compete due to the lack of suitable prosthetics for her condition, and her coaches had never trained an athlete without arms. Devi won the Internet’s heart with her bravery and determination, and we can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next. Did we mention she’s only 17?


What was your favorite moment from the Paris 2024 Paralympics? Let us know in the comments below!