Pistorius' T44 class is for track (T) amputee athletes; divisions 41-46 are reserved for those with missing limbs. For instance, Australia's Heath Francis, who wears a prosthetic right arm, set the world record in the T46 200m race (21.75 seconds), besting a 16-year-old mark and winning his country's first 2008 Paralympic medal in the process. Nigeria's Adekunle Adesoji advanced to the final in the T12 100m (for visually impaired runners) while wearing these fantastic shades.

The fifties are for wheelchair athletes, and that's where the Bird's Nest's biggest controversy occurred yesterday. The women's T54 5000m featured a spectacular crash, and officials determined that the entire race be rerun on Sep. 12. Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland, who was charged with obstruction after taking a turn incorrectly on the penultimate lap, won't be in the restart, as she took out seven of the 11 participants. If you like crashes, you can watch it here.

TABLE TENNIS: Similar to modern able-bodied competitions, Paralympics paddling is simply owned by China. In the 10 different classes, there are 15 competitors from the host nation in the semifinals. The divisions are based on severity of disability, with 1 through 5 for wheelchair athletes and 6 through 10 for those who are ambulatory. In Class 10, a name familiar to anyone who's been reading the site for the last month is one of those five non-Chinese players -- 19-year-old Natalia Partyka, who won matches for the Polish team in the Olympics, is through to the semis after winning three straight 3-0 matches. Partyka, one of two athletes to compete at both festivals in 2008 (the more famous Natalie du Toit is the other), is the only one to have a disability from birth. Her right arm ends at the elbow, but that hasn't stopped her from being the 148th best overall women's player in the world.

"I had a lot of dreams. I also dreamt about the Olympics, so now my dreams have come true."

BOCCIA: This form of bocce for cerebral palsy sufferers, similar to the French pétanque, is one of only three Paralympic sports that has no direct Olympic match -- wheelchair rugby and goalball being the others. Balls are thrown at a jack, points are awarded for closeness to the target, and there are four classes (BC1 through 4) that are not necessarily organized in terms of severity. In BC1, players may participate with assistants that must stay outside the area of play during throws. BC2 is for wheelchair athletes, BC3 is for those who need in-game assistance and BC4 allows for athletes without CP.

Day 3 was the first day medals were awarded in this sport. In BC2, Kwok Hoi-ying from Hong Kong won her country's first Paralympic gold of 2008 with a 5-3 victory over Nigel Murray (GBR).

China, as expected, is dominating the overall medal count after three days of competition. But Great Britain, site of the Paralympics' forerunner, the Stoke-Mandeville Games, are tied for first in the gold column.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	16	21	16	53
2	Great Britain	16	10	7	33
3	United States	10	5	11	26
4	Ukraine	8	5	10	23
5	Brazil	8	4	5	17
6	Australia	7	8	11	26
7	Russia	7	3	9	19
8	Spain	5	9	6	20
9	South Africa	5	0	1	6
10	Germany	4	9	8	21
11	South Korea	3	3	3	9
12	Canada	3	2	6	11
12	Czech Republic	3	2	6	11
14	Mexico	3	2	2	7
15	Algeria	3	0	3	6
16	Netherlands	2	2	2	6
17	Belarus	2	2	0	4
17	Tunisia	2	2	0	4
19	Cuba	2	0	4	6
20	Sweden	2	0	1	3
21	Nigeria	2	0	0	2
22	France	1	7	4	12
23	Japan	1	4	1	6
23	Poland	1	4	1	6
25	Azerbaijan	1	2	2	5
26	New Zealand	1	2	0	3
27	Denmark	1	1	2	4
28	Hong Kong	1	1	1	3
29	Cyprus	1	1	0	2
29	Portugal	1	1	0	2
31	Hungary	1	0	2	3
32	Italy	1	0	1	2
32	Venezuela	1	0	1	2
34	Austria	1	0	0	1
34	Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1
34	Latvia	1	0	0	1
34	Slovakia	1	0	0	1
38	Greece	0	3	3	6
39	Iran	0	2	1	3
40	Israel	0	2	0	2
40	Jordan	0	2	0	2
42	Kenya	0	1	1	2
43	Angola	0	1	0	1
43	Norway	0	1	0	1
43	Pakistan	0	1	0	1
43	Thailand	0	1	0	1
47	Argentina	0	0	2	2
47	Egypt	0	0	2	2
49	Belgium	0	0	1	1
49	Finland	0	0	1	1
49	Jamaica	0	0	1	1
49	Puerto Rico	0	0	1	1
49	Slovenia	0	0	1	1
49	Laos	0	0	1	1
49	Ireland	0	0	1	1