Paralympic Games: the best pictures from Beijing

The Paralympic Games get off to a colourful start at the opening ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP

Danny Crates flew the flag for Great Britain during the opening ceremony Photograph: Feng Li/Getty

Seth McBride tackles Guifei Han in the mixed wheelchair rugby preliminary match between the USA and China Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Darragh McDonald, the Republic of Ireland swimmer, trains at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing Photograph: Julien Behal/PA

Ukraine's Ivan Kytsenko competes in the men's triple jump F12 competition Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

A crash on the penultimate lap of the women's 5000m T54 final resulted in the race being re-staged four days later Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP

The Laoshan Velodrome provides the backdrop for the women's 500 metres time trial during the track cycling event Photograph: China Photos/Getty

Tracey Hinton's guide takes a tumble as the British sprinter competes in the women's T11 100m B final Photograph: China Photos/Getty

Ivanka Koleva of Bulgaria competes in the women's javelin F57/58 event at the Bird's Nest stadium Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty

Athanasios Barakas of Greece competes in the Men's Triple Jump F11 Final Photograph: China Photos/Getty

Darren Kenny, Jody Cundy and Mark Bristow of Great Britain celebrate their gold medals after winning the men's team sprint (LC1-4 CP3/4) Photograph: Guang Niu/Getty

The full moon appears between the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest Photograph: Tamas Kovacs/EPA

Claire Williams' hopes of adding to Great Britain's medal haul were thwarted when rain prematurely ended her involvement in the women's discus Photograph: China Photos/Getty

Brazil's Andre Luiz Oliveira competes in the F42 men's long jump at the Bird's Nest Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA

British swimmer David Roberts on his way to one of the four gold medals he won in Beijing Photograph: Liu Jin/AFP

Lee Pearson celebrates after clinching gold for Great Britain in the freestyle test grade 1b at the Olympic equestrian venue in Shatin Photograph: MN Chan/Getty

Athletes compete in the marathon on the final day of the Games Photograph: Alexander F. Yuan/AP

The closing ceremony gets underway with a spectacular volley of fireworks Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA

Performers dance during the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium Photograph: Grace Liang/Reuters