2008 Summer Paralympics in the context of "Summer Paralympics"

Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city, as well as China's second largest city by urban area, after Shanghai. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province and neighbors Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster.

Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business and economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sport, science and technology, transportation, and art. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets. It is also a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. For a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing Capital International Airport was Asia's busiest airport (2009–2019) and the second busiest airport in the world (2010–2019). In 2020, the Beijing subway was the fourth busiest and second longest in the world. Beijing Daxing International Airport, Beijing's second international airport, is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world. The city has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics Games. In 2022, Beijing became the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, and also the Summer and Winter Paralympics.

The Water Cube (水立方), fully a.k.a. the National Aquatics Centre (国家游泳中心), is a swimming center at the Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, China.

The Water Cube was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. During the 2008 Olympics—where it hosted diving, swimming and synchronized swimming events—25 world records were broken in this facility. In July 2010, a renovation of the facility was completed, which included the addition of a 12,000 m (130,000 sq ft) public water park. After renovation and adaptive configuration, the Water Cube also hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Ten cities submitted bids to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics that were recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), five of which made the IOC Executive Committee's shortlist. The games were awarded to Beijing, China on July 13, 2001. The other shortlisted cities were Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. Beijing won an absolute majority of votes after two rounds of voting, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds of voting. IOC delegates and the media identified a number of factors in its favor, including the size of the country, improvements in Chinese anti-doping enforcement, and its close loss to Sydney, Australia eight years earlier. In that bidding process, which chose the host city for the 2000 Summer Olympics, Beijing led every round of voting but lost in the final round to Sydney by two votes.

A number of politicians and non-governmental organizations criticized the Beijing bid and its selection due to concerns about China's human rights record. In response, supporters of the Beijing bid suggested that hosting the games might lead to "progress" on human rights and other issues. Some IOC delegates also expressed concerns about air pollution and heat in Beijing during the summer, and its effects on athletes participating in the games. In order to address such concerns, the Beijing bid included plans to reduce both air and water pollution in the city in advance of the games.

The 2022 Winter Paralympics (Chinese: 2022年冬季残疾人奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: 2022 Nián Dōngjì Cánjí Rén Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (Chinese: 北京2022), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Beijing was selected as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; taking into account its hosting of the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Beijing is the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics as well as the Summer and Winter Paralympics. This was the overall second Paralympics in China. It was the last of three consecutive Paralympics hosted in East Asia.

The Olympic Green (Chinese: 奥林匹克公园; pinyin: Àolínpǐkè Gōngyuán; lit. 'Olympic Park') is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The three main facilities there include the National Stadium (Bird's Nest), Water Cube, and National Indoor Stadium.

Olympic Green was originally constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011, after a race at Goldenport Park Circuit in the vicinity. It again served as an Olympic Park when Beijing hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

Saúl Mendoza Hernández (born January 6, 1967, in Mexico City) is a Mexican former wheelchair racer, who competed at the Olympic and Paralympic levels.

He acquired polio when he was 6 months old and grew up playing a variety of different sports. At the 2000 Olympic Games, he finished first in the demonstration event of Men's 1500m wheelchair. He finished second in the same event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won six medals in different athletics events at the Paralympic Games – 2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze – in a career that spanned from Seoul 1988 to Beijing 2008. He was the flag-bearer for the Mexican team in the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.