Paris 2024 — memorable Paralympics moments

Visually impaired athletes who show off their skills with a ringing ball at the Paralympics have "inherited" what is probably the most beautiful stadium from Olympic beach volleyball — the Stade Tour Eiffel, right next to the Eiffel Tower.

The ball is smaller and heavier, and the pitch isn't as big as in sighted football, but the blind version of the game is also a fast-moving sport. A rattle is built into the ball to help players locate it, while, guides give them commands from the sidelines. The players shout a lot on the pitch to help avoid collisions.

Wheelchair badminton player Thomas Wandschneider, from Germany, has had a long career. After taking home numerous victories and medals at World and European Championships, the 60-year-old finally won his first medal at the Paris Paralympics on September 2. He won bronze after defeating South Korea's Jaegun Jeong.

Brazilian Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo won Paralympic gold in the 100-meter backstroke on August 29. The 22-year-old could be compared with France's Leon Marchand, star of the Olympics. He also won gold in the 50-meter backstroke and 200-meter freestyle, and set a new world record with Brazil's medley relay team in Paris.

Would wider wings have carried long jumper Arjola Dedaj a little further? She missed out on the bronze medal by a mere centimeter. Many of the blind or visually impaired athletes in Paris wear eye masks during the competition, but the Italian still stood out visually with her colorful butterfly mask.

Officially, wheelchair rugby is not a contact sport, but wheelchair collisions are permitted — the sport used to be called murderball. Women and men compete in mixed teams. It tends to be a clean game, but as can be seen here from a match between Germany and the United States, rollovers sometimes can't be avoided.

In sporting terms, the Paralympics weren't a success for 100-meter sprinter Alessandro Ossola. The Italian finished last in his preliminary heat and was eliminated. But perhaps he wasn't fully focused on the track: after the race, Ossola decided to propose to his girlfriend. And she said yes!

German table tennis player Stephanie Grebe was overjoyed when she and doubles partner Juliane Wolf made it through to the final, knowing they were certain to take home a medal. In the end, the pair had to settle for silver because their Chinese opponents were just too strong.

What an honor! German para long jumper Markus Rehm was one of the last torchbearers at the opening ceremony on the Place de la Concorde. "I had unbelievable goosebumps. I got really emotional," said the four-time Paralympic champion, whose first Games were in London in 2012. "That was a really, really big moment."