Each day of the 2024 Paris Paralympics, NBC Olympics will run down the major sports in action, highlighting top athletes and marquee events. Watch live streaming coverage on NBCOlympics.com, Peacock, NBC.com and the NBC Sports app, and TV coverage on the networks of NBC, USA Network and CNBC. Visit the schedule page for full listings.

After another rousing Opening Ceremony from the Champs-Elysees brought a ceremonial start to the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the action kicks off in earnest Thursday when 11 sports begin play.

Some of Team USA's biggest names get their Games started on Day 1 in wheelchair basketball, para swimming, wheelchair rugby and more.

Below is a full breakdown of the top events and athletes to watch on Day 1.

Though the United States has never failed to win a medal in wheelchair rugby at the Paralympics, it's been 16 years since the Americans topped the podium. Their attempt at ending that drought begins on Day 1 when the United States takes on Canada at 7:30 a.m. ET. 

Win or lose, the match will mark a historic moment for Team USA. Though wheelchair rugby is a mixed-gender sport (men and women compete as teammates), the U.S. never has fielded a woman on its roster at the Paralympics. That changes with the Paralympic debut of Sarah Adam. Remarkably, Adam's story in wheelchair rugby began as an able-bodied volunteer, who gravitated to the sport while in graduate school for occupational therapy. She later became diagnosed with MS, and in 2019 was officially classed into the sport. 

The United States men's wheelchair basketball team, aiming to become the first nation to win three straight gold medals, gets the Paralympic campaign started when Steve Serio, Jake Williams and Co. take on Spain at 10 a.m. ET. 

The Americans are coming off a dominant 2023 season in which they won gold at both the World Championships and Parapan American Games, and head to Paris as the heavy favorites.

Team USA's likeliest competition for gold, Great Britain, also gets going Thursday against Germany.

Day 1 in the Paris pool will see the Paralympic debut of exciting talent Olivia Chambers. After a breakout 2023, including six medals at Worlds, she'll be one to watch in the women’s 100m butterfly S13. Currently a student at the University of Northern Iowa, Chambers’ vision began fading several years ago. While doctors do not know the exact cause, they have said she’s unlikely to regain full eyesight. She can follow the black line at the bottom of the pool but counts her strokes to know where she is in relation to the wall. Prior to losing her vision, Chambers was a competitive non-disabled swimmer and won several state awards in Arkansas. She now competes collegiately as a para swimmer.

Meanwhile, five-time Paralympic medalist Ellie Marks will make her return to the pool in the women’s 50m freestyle S6, an event in which she won silver in Tokyo. She remains the second-fastest swimmer in this event in this Paralympic quad. Marks was a combat medic for the U.S. Army and injured both hips while on assignment in Iraq in 2010. She began swimming as part of her recovery and ended up being selected for the 2016 U.S. Paralympic team in Rio, where she won two medals.

• Boccia
• Goalball
• Para archery
• Para badminton 
• Para cycling
• Para table tennis
• Para taekwondo
• Sitting volleyball