MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
We're going to catch up now on the Paralympics. They are underway in Paris in their second week. With more than 4,000 athletes competing, there is a lot to catch up on. So we have called Roman Stubbs. He's in Paris, covering the games for The Washington Post. Stubbs told me more than 2 million tickets have been sold then, that the audience for the Paralympics has doubled in the past decade.
ROMAN STUBBS: Yeah, it's the third most watched sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics and the World Cup for soccer. So, you know, I think the growth has gotten to the point where it's spawned - you know, 1.2 billion in advertising revenue is spent around the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. And we're starting to see the exposure that, I think, organizers have hoped for a long time to bring to the games. I think there's a lot of work to do still, but I think it's a really good place for the movement to be in at the moment.
KELLY: OK. Well, let's get to the sport. Review for me. If I asked you for the top couple highlights, big moments so far, where would you lead me?
STUBBS: Yeah. Well, the Americans have had quite a bit of success the last few days. I mean, in the swimming pool, they've taken a lot of medals. Gia Pergolini won the Team USA's first gold medal of the games, and then she came back with a silver medal in the 50-meter backstroke. She had won the hundred-meter, and then she won a silver. And that's kind of been one of their highlights. Matt Stutzman, who has an incredible story - he's an armless archer and has inspired other armless athletes across the world to take up the sport. You know, he shoots with his feet. He has secured a gold medal here. So there's been a lot of success for the Americans. And I think right now they're pretty happy with where their medal count is.
KELLY: Circle back to swimming for a second because I was following some controversy involving one of the American athletes. This is Christie Raleigh Crossley. Tell us about that.
STUBBS: Yeah. Christie Raleigh Crossley was a former Division 3 champion who has a neurological disorder. She was hit by a drunk driver in 2007, and then she was also in a car crash the following year and, since that time, has had a neurological issues. A few years ago, she decided that she would become a Paralympian and compete in the Paralympics. She has been a lightning rod for controversy for people who have criticized her and doubted her disability. She has an invisible disability.
And, you know, when she arrived here, she set a world record in her first swim. And she received some backlash online from a swimmer from another country and then from a swimmer on her own team, she said. That kind of cast a pall over her performance on that opening day. The USOPC said that they would look into this situation, but it definitely speaks to athletes with invisible disabilities and kind of provides a lens into the classification issue around the Paralympics and how classifiers classify disabilities and put them into divisions. It's very complicated and not always transparent process.
KELLY: Absolutely. OK, so I said we're in the second week. We're - so final week of of the Paralympics - big things to keep an eye on?
STUBBS: Yeah. Well, the Americans still have quite a few decorated Paralympians who are going to be competing, including Tatyana McFadden, who is a seven-time Paralympian who can become the all-time winningest track and field athlete at the Paralympics with one more gold medal win. And then Oksana Masters, who is perhaps the most decorated winter Paralympian in American history - she's also here competing in the Summer Games and looking to add to her medal count - so really great American athletes that have a lot on the line. And then there's just great stories all around. I mean, there's - the world's second-tallest man is competing in sitting volleyball for Iran. There's two Ukrainian soldiers here who are playing for Ukraine. So there's just so many personalities and stories here that are kind of illuminated through the competition. And it's been really fascinating to see. And I'm sure it'll be fascinating to watch here the last few days.
KELLY: Well, Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post, thanks so much for giving us a few things to watch for.
STUBBS: Thank you for having me.
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