The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. A total of 213 U.S. competitors took part in 18 sports; the only 2 sports Americans did not compete in were soccer 5-a-side and 7-a-side. The American delegation included 16 former members of the U.S. military, including 3 veterans of the Iraq War. Among them were shot putter Scott Winkler, who was paralyzed in an accident in Iraq, and swimmer Melissa Stockwell, a former United States Army officer who lost her left leg to a roadside bomb in the war.

The United States finished third in the gold and overall medal count, behind host nation China and Great Britain. The finish was an improvement from the 2004 Paralympics, where the U.S. finished fourth in the gold and overall medal count. The U.S. saw significant gains in Paralympic swimming, winning 17 gold medals and 44 total medals, 9 more than they took home from Athens. U.S. swimmers set a total of 16 world records, 23 Paralympic records, 48 Pan American records and 99 American records. U.S. coverage of the Games was provided by the Universal Sports Television Network and the official website of the U.S. Paralympic Team.

Disability classifications Every participant at the Paralympics had their disability grouped into one of five disability categories: amputation (either congenital or sustained through injury or illness); cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes (often overlapping with other categories); visual impairment (including blindness); and les autres (any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis). Each Paralympic sport then had its own classifications, depending on the specific physical demands of the competition. Events were given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divided athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities. Other sports, such as swimming, grouped competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.

Athletes may have competed against individuals with different classifications in the same event. For example, track and field athlete Jim Bob Bizzell competed in the men's 200 meters T44; the prefix T designated a track event and 44 was the disability classification. Although he finished behind Oscar Pistorius (competing under the T43 class), Bizell set a world record in the T44 classification. For specific classification information, see the pages for individual sports at 2008 Summer Paralympics#Sports.

Medalists

The following American athletes won medals at the games; all dates are for September 2008. In the 'by discipline' sections below, medalists' names are in bold.

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Medal Name Sport Event Date Brian FrasureJerome SingletonCasey Tibbs Athletics Men's 4x100 m relay T42-T46 16 Athletics Men's discus throw F44 15 Athletics Men's pentathlon P44 11 Athletics Women's 400 m T53 10 Athletics Men's 100 m T53 16 Athletics Women's 100 m T44 14 Athletics Men's 100 m T12 10 Athletics Women's 5000 m T54 12 Athletics Men's high jump F44/46 14 Cycling Women's individual time trial LC 3/LC 4/CP 3 12 Cycling Women's individual pursuit LC 3-4/CP 3 10 Cycling Men's individual time trial HC C 12 Cycling Women's 500 m time trial LC1-2/CP 4 08 Mackenzie Woodring Cycling Women's individual time trial B&VI 1-3 12 United States women's national goalball teamJen ArmbrusterLisa BantaJackie BarnesJessie LorenzAsya MillerRobin Theryoung Goalball Women's competition 14 Nick Scandone Sailing 2-person keelboat 13 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S13 15 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S10 08 Swimming Men's 200 m individual medley SM7 07 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S7 14 Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke S7 10 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S8 08 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S8 07 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM8 11 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S8 12 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S10 09 Swimming Men's 50 m butterfly S5 10 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S7 08 Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke SB7 09 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM7 07 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S7 11 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM6 07 Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke S10 13 United States women's national wheelchair basketball team Wheelchair basketball Women's competition 15 United States national wheelchair rugby team Wheelchair rugby Mixed competition 16 David Wagner Wheelchair tennis Mixed doubles 13 Athletics Men's 400 m T44 16 Athletics Men's 200 m T44 13 Athletics Women's 100 m T53 12 Athletics Women's 200 m T53 15 Athletics Women's 800 m T53 15 Athletics Men's 800 m T53 15 Athletics Men's long jump F11 15 Athletics Men's 800 m T13 15 Athletics Women's 200 m T54 14 Athletics Women's 400 m T54 12 Athletics Women's 800 m T54 14 Athletics Women's marathon T54 17 Athletics Men's 100 m T44 09 Athletics Men's pentathlon P44 11 Cycling Men's individual road race HC C 14 Cycling Women's individual time trial LC 3/LC 4/CP 3 12 Cycling Women's individual time trial LC 1/LC 2/CP 4 12 Cycling Women's individual pursuit LC 1-2/CP 4 10 Mackenzie Woodring Cycling Women's individual road race B&VI 1-3 14 Jamie DeanJesse KarmazinEmma PreuschlTracy Tackett Rowing Mixed coxed four 11 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S4 07 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S4 15 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S8 07 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM8 11 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S8 14 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S7 08 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S7 11 Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle S7 08 Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle S7 11 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S8 10 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S10 15 Swimming Women's 50 m butterfly S7 13 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S7 14 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S9 13 United States women's national sitting volleyball team Volleyball Women's competition 14 Archery Women's individual recurve standing 13 Archery Men's individual compound W1 14 Athletics Women's 400 m T53 10 Jessica GalliTatyana McFaddenAmanda McGrory Athletics Women's 4x100 m relay T53/T54 16 Athletics Men's 100 m T44 09 Athletics Women's 800 m T53 15 Athletics Men's long jump F42/44 16 Cycling Men's individual time trial HC C 12 Cycling Men's individual road race HC C 14 Mackenzie Woodring Cycling Women's individual pursuit B&VI 1-3 09 Cycling Men's individual time trial LC4 12 Judo Men's +100 kg 09 Rowing Women's single sculls A 11 Sailing 1-person keelboat 13 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S13 10 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S13 08 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S4 07 Swimming Men's 200 m individual medley SM9 11 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S10 09 Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke SB7 09 Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke SB6 12 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM7 07 Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle S7 14 Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke SB7 09 Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle S5 07 Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke S9 13 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S10 15 Wheelchair tennis Mixed singles 13 | width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

+ Medals by sportSport Total Archery 0 0 2 2 9 14 5 28 Cycling 5 5 4 14 Goalball 1 0 0 1 Judo 0 0 1 1 Rowing 0 1 1 2 Sailing 1 0 1 2 Swimming 17 14 13 44 Volleyball 0 1 0 1 Wheelchair basketball 1 0 0 1 Wheelchair rugby 1 0 0 1 Wheelchair tennis 1 0 1 2

+ Multiple medalistsNameSport Total Erin Popovich Swimming 4 2 0 6 Jessica Long Swimming 4 1 1 6 Barbara Buchan Cycling 2 0 0 2 Jeremy Campbell Athletics 2 0 0 2 Jessica Galli Athletics 1 3 1 5 Cortney Jordan Swimming 1 2 1 4 Lantz Lamback Swimming 1 2 1 4 Jim Bob Bizzell Athletics 1 2 0 3 Jennifer Schuble Cycling 1 2 0 3 Amanda McGrory Athletics 1 1 2 4 Karissa Whitsell Cycling 1 1 1 3 Mackenzie Woodring Cycling 1 1 1 3 Josh George Athletics 1 1 0 2 Ashley Owens Swimming 1 1 0 2 Jerome Singleton Athletics 1 1 0 2 Jeff Skiba Athletics 1 1 0 2 Kelley Becherer Swimming 1 0 2 3 Anna Eames Swimming 1 0 1 2 Brian Frasure Athletics 1 0 1 2 Rudy Garcia-Tolson Swimming 1 0 1 2 Roy Perkins Swimming 1 0 1 2 Oz Sanchez Cycling 1 0 1 2 Casey Tibbs Athletics 1 0 1 2 David Wagner Wheelchair tennis 1 0 1 2 Tatyana McFadden Athletics 0 3 1 4 Amanda Everlove Swimming 0 3 0 3 Cheryl Angelelli Swimming 0 2 0 2 Alejandro Albor Cycling 0 1 1 2 Anjali Forber-Pratt Athletics 0 0 2 2

Archery

The American archery team consisted of seven men and one woman. The highest placed finishers were Lindsey Carmichael and Jeff Fabry, who each won a bronze medal. T. J. Pemberton and Joe Bailey competed against each other in the quarterfinals of the men's individual compound open, with Pemberton winning and going on to finish fourth in that event.

AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalPointsSeedOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRank Joe Bailey Men's individual compound open 676 6 Bye W 115:110 L 112:114 did not advance Eric Bennett Men's individual compound open 667 16 W 106:106 T9:9,9:8 L 114:117 did not advance Lindsey Carmichael Women's individual recurve standing 536 13 W 89:82 W 87:76 W 86:85 L 101:101 T7:6 W 105:101 Jeff Fabry Men's individual compound W1 661 2 N/A Bye W 113:97 L 107:109 W 111:101 Chuck Lear Men's individual compound W1 577 12 N/A L 75:98 did not advance T. J. Pemberton Men's individual compound open 668 14 W 106:103 W 115:105 W 114:112 L 110:116 L 111:115 4 Kevin Stone Men's individual recurve W1/W2 616 10 W 92:88 L 97:101 did not advance Russell Wolfe Men's individual recurve W1/W2 539 29 L 76:107 did not advance

Track and field (athletics)

The American track and field team consisted of 26 men and 17 women. Among them was shot putter Scott Winkler, a U.S. Army veteran who was paralyzed in Tikrit, Iraq in 2003 after he fell off a truck while holding 50 pounds of ammunition. The team set six world records and won a total of nine gold, fourteen silver, and five bronze medals, two more medals than the team won in Athens. Jessica Galli won five medals, more than any other team member, while Amanda McGrory, Tatyana McFadden, and Jim Bob Bizzell each won at least three medals. Jeremy Campbell was the only U.S. track and field athlete to win two golds.

Men