All the best events to watch during the 2024 Paralympics

If the Olympics just past has taught us anything, it’s that it’s nearly impossible to catch all the best moments of a major international sporting event that crams hundreds of events into a two-week window. Especially when that event takes place in a grossly incompatible time zone. But if you thought it was hard to stay up to date during the Olympics, just wait until we tell you about the Paralympics. The 2024 Paris Paralympics will squeeze 549 medal events (an increase on the Olympics 329) into just 11 days of competition. Attempting to watch all of those events, most of which will take place in the middle of the Australian night, is a daunting prospect. But with what we expect to be a massive gold-medal haul from the Australian athletes, there are plenty of moments you simply can’t afford to miss. For that reason, selecting the events you’re going to watch is an important task. You don’t want to commit to staying up past 12am or waking up at 4am unless it’s going to be worth it, but you also don’t want to risk missing out on a magical moment. To put your mind at ease, we’ve hand-picked the Games’ headliners, so you can get your priorities straight. All dates and times are in AEST.

August 29th

Para-swimming heats – 5:30pm Wheelchair rugby pool stage, Australia vs Great Britain – 7:30pm

August 30th

Men’s wheelchair basketball pool stage, Australia vs Netherlands – 5:30am Men’s 400m freestyle, S9 final – 1:30am Australian flagbearer Brendan Hall is a two-time gold medallist in this event. Women’s 400m freestyle, S9 final – 1:40am Lakeisha Patterson won gold in this event in Tokyo three years ago. Men’s 50m freestyle, S10 final – 3:41am Rowan Crothers won gold in this event in Tokyo. Thomas Gallagher is also a chance at a medal. Men’s wheelchair tennis, round 1 – 8:00pm Aussies Anderson Parker and Ben Weekes will both be in action. Men’s Javelin, F38 final – 8:09pm Corey Anderson won gold in the F38 javelin back at the 2019 world championships with a world record throw. Men’s wheelchair basketball pool stage, Australia vs Spain – 8:45pm Women’s track cycling, C4 individual pursuit final – 11:35pm If all goes according to plan, Tokyo gold medallist Emily Petricola will once again race for gold here.

August 31st

Wheelchair rugby pool stage, Australia vs France – 3:30am Men’s 5000m T13 final – 6:10pm Jaryd Clifford fell agonisingly short of a gold medal in this event at the last Olympics. Can he take the top honour here? We’d back him to do so. Women’s 5000, T54 final – 6:36pm A dual gold medallist in Tokyo, Madison de Rozario can cement her legacy in Paris. Wheelchair rugby pool stage, Australia vs Denmark – 9:30pm Men’s track cycling, C1-3 time trial – 10:02pm Darren Hicks won this event at the last Paralympics. He has a solid chance of doing it again. Men’s track cycling, C5 individual pursuit final – 11:21pm Alistair Donohoe is a four-time Paralympic medallist but he’s yet to capture that elusive gold. Hopefully that changes here. Women’s track cycling, C1-3 time trial final – 11:35pm Amanda Reid is returning to defend her Tokyo gold medal in this event.

September 1st

Men’s wheelchair basketball pool stage, Australia vs USA – 6:30pm PR3 mixed double sculls final – 8:10pm The Aussie duo blew away their competition to win gold at last year’s world championships.

September 2nd

Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, S14 final – 1:30am Men’s 150m individual medley, SM3 final – 3:20am Ahmed Kelly is the reigning world champion in this event. Men’s 100m T34 final – 6:00pm Rheed McCracken has won silver in this event for the last three Paralympics in a row. He could finally crack the gold here.

September 3rd

Women’s 50m freestyle, S13 final – 2:47am Katja Dedekind has won gold at the last two world championships and it’s hard to see her missing out on the top spot here. Men’s javelin, F64 final – 3:00am A silver medallist at the last Olympics and 2023 world championships, Michael Burian will hope he can find a way to the top of the podium. Men’s 1500m T13 final – 6:00pm Jaryd Clifford took bronze in this event in Tokyo. He’ll be hoping to finish even higher up the podium in Paris. Men’s 400m T36 final – 7:55pm James Turner will look to defend his gold medal from Tokyo. Women’s 1500m T54 final – 8:19pm A dual gold medallist in Tokyo, Madison de Rozario can cement her legacy in Paris.

September 5th

Women’s 100m freestyle, S9 final – 3:35am About as close to a gold medal lock as you can get, Alexa Leary won this event by more than two seconds at the 2023 world championships.

September 6th

Men’s 200m individual medley, SM9 final – 2:31am Timothy Hodge is a multiple-time world champion in the SM9 IM. He’ll be hard to beat in Paris. Women’s T63 long jump final – 3:00am Vanessa Low won gold in this event in Tokyo and is the red-hot favourite to repeat.

September 7th

Men’s 100m backstroke, S14 final – 3:04am Can anyone unseat Benjamin Hance as the king of the S14 100m backstroke? We doubt it. Women’s 50m freestyle, S4 final – 4:03am Rachael Watson is going for her third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in this event.

September 8th

Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, 34 points final – 1:30am Men’s 1500m T38 final – 3:00am Reece Langdon and Angus Hincksman won silver and bronze at last year’s world championships. Australia would be unlucky to miss the medals here. Women’s 400m T38 final – 4:32am A silver medallist at the 2023 world championships, Rhiannon Clarke could become a gold medallist on the last day of the Games. Women’s T54 marathon – 4:00pm This will be Madison de Rozario’s final event on a busy schedule.