PARIS, France — Athletes from Oregon competed at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. The competition started on Aug. 28 and went through through Sept. 8.
Team USA won 105 Paralympic medals overall, including 36 gold medals. The U.S. trailed China (220 medals, 94 gold) and Great Britain (124 medals, 49 gold).
Here's a look at how the Paralympians with ties to Oregon did in the Paralympic Games.
Wheelchair basketball
Lindsey Zurbrugg, a 25-year-old from Portland, and the U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team took home a silver medal in the tournament.
The U.S. faced the Netherlands in the gold-medal game on Sept. 8. Team USA had an 8-1 lead in the first quarter, but the Dutch team took a 31-24 lead at the end of the second quarter. The Netherlands went on to beat the U.S. 63-49.
- The U.S. women beat China 50-47 in the semifinal on Friday, Sept. 6.
- Team USA beat Great Britain 59-52 in the quarterfinal on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Zurbrugg went scoreless, but had six assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot in 27 minutes.
- They defeated Japan, 62-52, on Monday, Sept. 2, in the last game before the quarterfinal. Zurbrugg had 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes.
- On Saturday, Aug. 31, the U.S women fell to the Netherlands, 69-56. Zurbrugg totaled five points, two rebounds and nine assists in 24 minutes.
- In its group play opener on Friday, Aug. 30, Team USA dominated Germany, 73-44. Zurbrugg had three points, three rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes.
Zurbrugg helped Team USA take home bronze during the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Para-swimming
Abbas Karimi and his team won silver in the mixed 4x50-meter freestyle relay on Friday, Aug. 30. It's the 27-year-old's first Paralympic medal.
He competed in the men's 50-meter freestyle S5 and the 50-meter butterfly S5 heats, but did not qualify for the finals.
Karimi was born in Afghanistan and fled to a refugee camp in Turkey when he was 16. He eventually resettled in Portland in 2016, but moved to Florida when pools in Oregon closed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Para-cycling
Beaverton para-cyclist Dennis Connors, 39, earned his first Paralympic medal, winning silver in the men's T1-2 Road Race on Saturday, Sept. 7. Connors sprinted to the finish line with a time of 1:17:09.
Wheelchair tennis
Portland wheelchair tennis Paralympian Maylee Phelps competed in both the women's singles and doubles.
Phelps beat Abbie Breakwell (Great Brittain) 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the women's singles on Saturday, Aug. 31. She lost to Wang Ziying (China) 6-0, 6-3 in the second round on Monday, Sept. 2.
She paired up with Dana Mathewson in women's doubles, but they lost to Momoko Ohtani and Saki Takamuro (Japan) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the first round on Friday, Aug. 30.
Para-rowing
Todd Vogt of Portland competed in PR3 Mixed Double Sculls with Saige Harper of Massachusetts. The duo finished third in the repechage round on Saturday, Aug. 31, and went on to race in the B final. Vogt and his teammate finished with a time of 7:48:38 — the fastest time in their grouping — but did not take home a medal. Australia won the gold, while Great Britain earned the silver and Germany the bronze.
