Paralympic Games

U.S. Paralympian and Coloradan Adam Scaturro won a silver medal at this year's Paralympics in Tokyo. He joined us to discuss his athletic journey and the future of Paralympic games.

This year, the men's U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey team is packed with Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, and they've found an outlet in hitting, slamming and speeding across the ice as fast as they can.

The Pakistani military's Armed Forces Institute for Rehabilitative Medicine in Rawalpindi is the top rehab center for veterans wounded in what they call "the war on terror." Most of the young men there are from the country's Frontier Corps and have fought in Waziristan. They have lost arms and legs to roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices. Pakistan is doing its best to get them artificial limbs. But a new program goes a step further. The hospital is furnishing some men with blade legs and training them for the Paralympics.

Guest host Linda Wertheimer speaks with NPR's Quil Lawrence about the 2012 Paralympic Games and the achievements of American athletes who are also veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As summer heads for fall: Serena Williams is poised to win again; football opens in earnest; and the real Olympic spirit is still on display. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Tom Goldman.

American Paralympian Matt Stutzman won the silver medal in archery this week, a feat he accomplished despite being born without arms. In the men's compound open final, he was narrowly beaten by Finland's Jere Forsberg, who has the use of both arms.

Navy Lt. Brad Snyder lost his sight to an explosion in Afghanistan exactly one year ago. On the anniversary Friday, he won the 400-meter freestyle at the Paralympics in London, capturing his second gold medal.

More than 4,200 athletes from 164 countries are taking part in the Paralympics. Disabled athletes began competing when a doctor in Britain organized the international wheelchair games to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Renee Montagne talks to Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson, a former wheelchair racer who is in the British House of Lords, about the games.

South African Oscar Pistorius failed in his attempt to win the 100-meter sprint and regain his title as the world's fastest amputee, losing to Great Britain's Jonnie Peacock. American Richard Browne, 21, of Jackson, Miss., won the silver medal.

At the Paralympics, the South African double amputee faces his rivals in the 100-meter sprint.