China claimed the first gold medal of the 2012 Paralympics, as the Games got under way in London on Thursday in front of big crowds.
The first gold went to Cuiping Zhang in a women's air rifle shooting event. Another quickly followed for China in the men's C1-2-3 1-kilometer cycling time trial, as Li Zhang Yu swooped around the velodrome in record-breaking time.
There are 503 gold medals to be won in the course of the 11-day competition, for which more than 4,000 athletes have descended on London from more than 160 countries.
On Thursday alone, 32 gold medals are up for grabs across five different sports.
Back in the velodrome, Susan Powell took Australia's first gold in the women's individual C4 pursuit, while Kieran Modra took its second in the men's individual B pursuit.
And the home crowds cheered on British cyclist Sarah Storey as she won the first gold of the Games for the host nation. The win in the women's individual C5 pursuit cycling brought her total Paralympic medal haul to eight.
Storey, who was born without a left hand but is also a champion swimmer, narrowly missed out on being selected for the women's team pursuit at the London 2012 Olympics.
Over at the Aquatic Centre, American Jessica Long won the women's 100-meter butterfly S8 with a personal best time to give Team USA its first gold of the Games.
But Team USA suffered a blow when authorities confirmed that one of its big medal hopes, swimmer Mallory Weggemann, was being reclassified from S7 to S8.
The classification system, designed to make sure athletes in each sport compete against similarly abled rivals, is central to how the Games work.
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