Tokyo Paralympics

Belgian athlete Peter Genyn says his wheelchair was damaged in an act of "pure sabotage." A team raced to fix it in time for the final, where Genyn won gold.

Sprinter Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo, who is visually impaired, didn't qualify for the semifinals. But she did accept a surprise proposal from her sighted partner, Manuel Antonio Vaz da Veiga.

The two-person team arrived in Tokyo a week late, after the crisis in Afghanistan threatened to bar them from leaving their home country.

David Brown already has one Paralympic medal under his belt. He and sighted guide Moray Steward hope to sprint their way to another in Tokyo.

One notable member of Team USA's Paralympic delegation is Hunter Woodhall, a sprinter with two medals under his belt. His girlfriend, Tara Davis, competed in the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Sports for athletes with an impairment have existed for more than a century, but it wasn't until after World War II that the official Paralympics began to take shape.

Mark your calendars: The Games will feature 539 events across 22 sports before the closing ceremony on Sept. 5.

The Olympics and Paralympics have for decades been held in tandem, and both celebrate world-class athletic achievement. The Special Olympics differs in key ways.