The last fireworks blasted their bright colors over the Bird's Nest a few weeks ago. Most athletes (if they didn't choose to travel longer abroad after the Games) are home now, basking in their country's praise or starting over on a winning strategy for 2012. Michael Phelps has appeared or will appear on everything from Saturday Night Live to the Ellen DeGeneres show. But other than the magazine covers and endorsements, the Beijing Olympics are over.

That's the story they print at least.

This Saturday, a new flood of Olympians flies into Beijing for a round of Games like no other. Sure, the medals will still gleam bright, the national flags will wave, and every athlete will feel the pride of representing his or her country. But this is the Olympics you never see on the national new stations: the Paralympics.

We've marveled at the shattered world records and collection of gold medals. We've wondered at the athelete who slowed down at the end of his race, but still became the fastest man in the world. We've cried with athletes whose dreams didn't come true. But, I argue, the Paralympics require far more training, and perhaps far greater feats of courage and strength, than anything we saw in the other Olympic Games.

Imagine not being able to get out of bed ten years ago, then finishing a bike race in a world record time. Imagine being told at birth that you would never walk or talk, then swimming the length of a pool faster than any other elite athlete near you. I've had the privilege of watching my sister, who is developmentally disabled, compete in the Special Olympics, and it was far more exciting than even the 1/100th of a second finish Michael Phelps had. These Olympians evidence more than any others, I believe, what the Olympics represent: equality, pride, and super human strength.

So, even if the world is not watching through our milieu of media lenses, let's keep demanding equal play time for those athletes who best represent the Olympic spirit.