Following the end of the 2024 Olympic Games earlier this month, Paris will now host the Paralympic Games, which start on Aug. 28.
Team USA will send a total of 225 athletes from 39 states to the 2024 Paralympics.
Here’s what you need to know:
What are the Paralympic Games?
The Paralympic Games , an international competition for athletes with disabilities, are usually located in the same city as the Olympic Games.
The Paralympics, which take place every two years, first started in 1960.
The 2024 Paralympic Summer Games will include 22 sports: athletics, archery, badminton, blind football, boccia, canoe, cycling, equestrian, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
The Paris games will last until Sept. 8.
Which US states have the most athletes in 2024 Paralympics?
Minnesota is home to the most Paralympians per capita in the nation: 1.93 per 1 million people in the state.
The Gopher State has a total of 11 athletes competing in the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Washington state, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa follow closely behind in terms of Paralympics per capita.
California has the highest number of Paralympians overall, with a total 29 athletes competing in Paris at the Paralympic Games. That’s 0.74 Paralympians per million people.
Washington has 12 Paralympians in the 2024 games and Pennsylvania has 11.
How many California athletes are competing in the Paralympics?
California has a total of 142 Olympians and Paralympians on the U.S. team in 2024, according to the Team USA website.
That’s the most of any state in the nation.
In contrast, Florida has 46 Olympians and Paralympians competing as part of Team USA in Paris, and Texas has 44 athletes headed to the Olympics and Paralympics.
Most of California’s Paralympians hail from the Sacramento Valley , the Bay Area or Southern California.
Check out this map to see where Paralympic athletes are from in your state. Click on a dot to see more information about each athlete.
Who are Californian Paralympic athletes? Where are they from?
Here are the Californians competing in the Paris Paralympics as part of the U.S. team, where they’re from and the sports in which they’ll compete, according to the Team USA website:
Judo
- Christella Garcia, Sacramento
Para-cyling
- Samantha Bosco, Claremont
- Hannah Chadwick, El Cerrito
- Skyler Espinoza, Menlo Park
- Bryan Larsen, Windsor
- Branden Walton, Windsor
- Jamie Whitmore, Somerset
Paratriathlon
- Mark Barr, Davis
- Zack Goodman, San Diego
- Mohamed Lahna, Hayward
Powerlifting
Shooting
- YanXiao Gong, Malibu
- Kevin Nguyen, Westminster
Sitting volleyball
Swimming
- Jamal Hill, Inglewood
- Noah Jaffe, Carlsbad
Track and field
- Josh Cinnamo, San Diego
- Breanna Clark, Los Angeles
- Kym Crosby, Yuba City
- Ezra Frech, Los Angeles
- Joel Gomez, Encinitas
- Leo Merle, Folsom
- Trenten Merrill, San Juan Capistrano
- Arelle Middleton, Rancho Cucamonga
- Roderick Townsend, Stockton
Wheelchair basketball
- Courtney Ryan, San Diego
- Jorge Salazar, Delano
Wheelchair rugby
Wheelchair tennis
- Dana Mathewson, San Diego
Which medals are given out to winners?
Like the Olympic medals, the medals for the Paralympics are made with a piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower. The Paralympic medals also include engravings and Braille.
Team USA has won the most medals of any country in the Paralympics since the games began.
How can I watch the 2024 Paralympic Games?
Viewers can follow the games on the Paralympics YouTube channel , on the International Paralympic Committee website , on NBC or with Peacock.
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