The second day of the Paris Paralympics featured multiple world records, the first U.S. gold medal and much more. Catch up on the top stories and highlights here.

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• The United States women's wheelchair basketball team kicked off their campaign for a fifth Paralympic gold medal with an emphatic, wire-to-wire win over Germany.
• A difficult day for other U.S. teams saw preliminary-round defeats for men's goalball (13-8 vs. Brazil), women's sitting volleyball (3-1 vs. China) and wheelchair rugby (45-42 vs. Japan).
• U.S. para swimmer Ellie Marks won her second silver medal of the Paris Games in the Women's 200m IM SM6. 
• American Gia Pergolini won the first U.S. gold medal of the Paris Paralympics with a dominant victory in the women's 100m backstroke S13. It's Pergolini's second consecutive gold in the event.
• China set a new world record in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay. The U.S. took silver.
• American para archery star Matt Stutzman advanced to the Round of 16 in the men's individual compound open competition. The 'Armless Archer,' as he's known on Instagram, defeated Mexico's Victor Sardina Viveros, 142-136.
• American Conner Stroud advanced to the second round of the men's singles wheelchair tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Costa Rican Jose Pablo Gil.
• Brazilian Julio Cesar Agripino set a new world record in the men's 5000m T11 by more than five seconds to win gold in 14:48.85. That kicked off a loaded day of Para track and field action, with 14 medal events in Paris.

In the women's 100m backstroke S13, American Gia Pergolini claimed the first U.S. gold medal of the Paris Paralympics. Pergolini, a 20-year-old from Atlanta, won by over two seconds to win gold in the event for the second consecutive Paralympics.

"I am just so happy to be here representing one of the greatest countries in the world," Pergolini said. "Getting its first gold medal at the Paralympics is unreal. Especially after watching the Olympians dominate the Olympics, I wanted to do that here." 

With a silver medal in the women's 50m freestyle S6 Thursday, Ellie Marks earned the United States' first para swimming medal in Paris. Friday, she added another silver medal to her haul. Marks finished second in the women's 200m IM SM6, behind gold medalist Maisie Summers-Newton of Great Britain.

Meanwhile, world record holder Anastasia Pagonis missed the podium in the women's 400m freestyle S11 final with a fourth-place finish. Pagonis' time of 5:05.31 was more than 10 seconds off her world record pace set as a 17-year-old at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Two record fell in the pool on Friday. Ukraine's Oleksandr Komarov clocked a Paralympic record of 1:07.77 to win gold in the men's 100m freestyle S5. In a thrilling finish, Komarov edged China's Guo Jincheng at the wall for the historic win.

To cap the day in the water, China set a new world record in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay with a time of 2:14.98. The U.S. relay squad finished just four seconds behind that record time to claim silver, while Brazil took bronze. The U.S. silver notably marks the first Paralympic medal for Abbas Karimi. Karimi was born in Afghanistan but fled in 2013, settling in Turkey as a refugee. He then moved to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen in 2022. Karimi is now among his new nation's newest Paralympic medalists.

A balanced, wire-to-wire effort from the four-time Paralympic champion U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team convincingly team Germany, 73-44, in the first match of pool play.

Four Americans scored in double figures, led by Ryan Courtney's 17 points and Rose Hollermann's 16. Ixheldt Gonzales posted a hyper-efficient 15 points (on 7-of-8 shooting) in 15 minutes of action, and Becca Murray dished out 12 assists to go along with her 13 points.

Germany operated heavily through captain and two-time Paralympic medalist (and former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater player) Marieke Miller who played all 40 minutes and led all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-23 shooting. Miller also posted 10 rebounds and 8 assists, but it wasn't enough as suffocating U.S. defense held Germany to 37% from the field.

Next up for Team USA in pool play is a marquee matchup against defending gold medalists the Netherlands, Saturday at 12:15 pm ET.

The first day of para track and field featured 14 medal events at Stade de France. It didn’t take long for a world record to topple. Brazilian Julio Cesar Agripino, alongside his guide Micael dos Santos, beat the all-time mark in the men's 5000m T11 by more than five seconds to win gold in 14:48.85.

Brazil’s track dominance continued in the afternoon, as Petrucio Ferreira dos Santos won gold in the men’s 100m T47 for the third consecutive Paralympics. The 27-year-old battled through a slow start to storm ahead in the final five strides to win his third gold with a time of 10.68 seconds. American Korban Best, 21, took silver in a lifetime best 10.75 seconds, claiming his first Paralympic medal. Aymane El Haddaoui of Morocco is the bronze medalist, with a time of 10.78.

Ferreira dos Santos hasn't lost a 100m final in 10 years, and his dominance in the sport continued on Friday.

“I won this event when I was very young in Rio, and that was amazing," he said. "Now I am a three-time champion. I have no words to describe this. I am really very happy."

After taking bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics, Brazil’s Ricardo Gomes de Mendonca won gold in the men’s 100m T37 final in Paris. Mendonca entered as a strong gold medal favorite after taking gold at 2023 Worlds and delivered in the Paralympic final, crossing the line in a season’s best 11.07 seconds. Behind him, Indonesia’s Saptoyogo Purnomo took silver with a lifetime best 11.26, and Andrei Vdovin of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes earned the bronze medal in 11.41.

Gomes de Mondonca had history on his mind upon winning gold.

“I have revenged the football World Cup from 1998 which Brazil lost in this stadium," he said. "We lost then, but now I have won and this is our answer.”

U.S. star Nick Mayhugh, who won gold and set a world record (10.95 seconds) in this event at the Tokyo Games, was reclassified to T38 and will compete on Saturday.

Chinese Paralympic legend Zhou Xia took the track for her third Paralympic go-round and delivered with her fifth gold medal. The 25-year-old won the women’s 100m T35 in dominant fashion, edging countrywoman Guo Qianqian by 0.16 seconds for victory.

Another Chinese star, Wen Xiaoyan, won gold in the women's 200m T37 final, setting a Paralympic record in the process. Her time of 25.86 seconds secured her seventh Paralympic medal and sixth gold. American Jaleen Roberts missed the podium, finishing fourth, but is a serious medal contender in the 100m T37, in which she took silver at the Tokyo Games.

The final world record of the day came courtesy of China's Dongdong Di, who set a new world record in men's long jump T11, eclipsing the mark set over a decade ago by American Lex Gillette.