As promised, here is the list of Paralympic events to watch. After asking around, I discovered that the reason most people who don’t watch the Paralympics don’t watch them is because they don’t find them as highly competitive, fast paced, or interesting. With this in mind, I compiled a list that involved competition that mirrored that of the Olympics or that were fun and exciting to watch in their own right. Anticipating two kinds of sports viewers: those who like action sports and those who like precision sports, I divided the list in this way. One thing people must understand about the Paralympics is that each event categorizes by disability level. Sometimes it will seem like the athlete is without disability, while other times it’s more obvious.

Let’s start with the Action Sports. I had a hard time with this category. There were so many events I would watch that I almost considered doing a Top 10 instead of Top 5. Well actually it is a Top 10 list with the Precision sports being 6 through 10. However, I will mention a few honorable mentions that didn’t make the list. Wheelchair Tennis was entertaining, but I don’t really like tennis. I know that’s a little biased, but it’s my list so oh well. Power Lifting is a competition of raw strength. It’s a straight up “how much do you bench?” competition. Football includes 5 and 7 a side divisions. The 5 a-side event is absolutely amazing. The players are all blind and their footwork is top notch which makes for an exciting viewing experience.
Both Rowing and Track Cycling are intense events. The Israeli rowers are the ones to watch while the track cyclist Michael Teuber of Germany moves so quickly you’d never know he was “disabled.”

Both Wheelchair Rugby and Basketball will be held at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gym. Track and Field will be at the Bird’s Nest, swimming at the Water Cube and Table Tennis at the Peking University Gym

Top 5 precision sports 1. Boccia 2. Goalball 3. Shooting 4. Archery 5. Fencing

So I hope this is helpful in knowing which sports you may want to check out! I’ll give a full run down tomorrow about the unique sports to the Paralympics.