The 2012 Paralympic Games are underway in London, and several TED speakers are right there on the front lines. During Wednesday night’s dazzling Opening Ceremony, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking took the stage to expound on the evening’s theme of Enlightenment. “What is it,” he asked, as the performers around him brought Big Bang imagery to life, “that breathes fire into the equations, and makes a universe for them to describe?” (Watch Hawking onscreen at TED 2008, sharing the past, present and future of humanity’s role in the universe.)

Retired paralympian Aimee Mullins has a new role this year, serving as Chef de Mission for Team USA. She adds this to her many accomplishments in a long career as an athlete, writer, model and actress. (Watch her most recent talk from TEDMED 2009, urging us to understand how our struggles make us who we are.)

Meanwhile, photojournalist Giles Duley is providing photographic coverage of the Games. In an essay in The Observer last weekend, Duley described  his lifelong Olympics addiction and how he came to understand the true beauty of the Paralympics after losing both his legs and an arm in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2011. Watch his moving talk, given at TEDxObserver earlier this year, about his journey both as a photographer and as a person.

This past Monday, swimmer Diana Nyad made her fourth attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. Though this attempt ended when weather and jellyfish conditions took a turn for the worse, we can look back at her talk from TEDMED 2011 to understand how she — and all of us — found “grace in the face of defeat.” From her experience and that of other TEDsters who tell inspiring stories of pushing their body to its limits, we can better understand humanity and society from its extremes.

Diana Nyad: Extreme swimming with the world’s most dangerous jellyfish
In this talk, Diana Nyad shares her dream to swim from Havana to Key West — a multi-day, open-ocean route whose challenge is as much mental and environmental as physical. (Environmental? Yes. When Nyad spoke to reporters this afternoon, she told CBS News: “I’m not a quitter, but the sport and this particular ocean are different than they used to be. These jellyfish are prolific. And, you know what? To me, there’s no joy in that.” The backstory here: As the world’s oceans become depleted of large fish, jellyfish are moving in to take their place. Watch Jeremy Jackson’s powerful TEDTalk, “How we wrecked the ocean,” for more on the jellyfish population explosion.)

Lewis Pugh’s mind-shifting Everest swim
Lewis Pugh goes for “symbolic swims” in extreme locations to draw attention to global climate change. These athletic feats are physically grueling — imagine swimming 5,000 feet up in the freezing water of a lake on Mount Everest, in just a Speedo — but that’s nothing compared to the mental challenge. In this inspiring talk from TEDGlobal, Pugh shares what he learned, and how we can apply these ideas to climate change, the “Mount Everest of all problems.”

Ben Saunders skis to the North Pole
Pushing human capacity to its limit at the end of the world is what Ben Saunders does best. His record-breaking Arctic adventures explore the limits of physiology, psychology and of technology, testing how far humans can push themselves, while raising awareness of the rapidly changing situation at the North and South Poles. In October 2012 he plans to complete the South Pole route last traveled by Captain R.F. Scott.

In this TED-Ed video narrated by Mesler and animated by Katie Wendt, Mesler reveals his inspiring story about how everyday decisions yield big results.

Below, Mesler counts down his favorite TEDTalks of all time.

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Dan Pink: The surprising science of motivation

I love what Dan covers in this talk so much. It speaks to me on two levels — the first being, this is exactly how an Olympian works. If you want to find someone who is highly motivated and looking to achieve success when money is not a motivator, find yourself an Olympic athlete. Secondly — this is the working world I live in now. My consulting practice focuses on fostering high-performing teams and individuals in the business world, and Dan’s argument for creating a high-performance environment is pretty compelling from my experiences.

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Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education

I love Salman’s vision in this talk and how his ideas came to be so organically. He believed he could change the world, and he followed through on doing it in a way that no one had ever seen before. His process has inspired me so much as my sister and I build the organization Classroom Champions, which connects in-need schools with Olympic and Paralympic athletes, to reach and inspire as many students as possible.

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Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

The way Simon breaks down a complex thought process into such simple terms is awe-inspiring. To explain to people the impact of the way they deliver their message is such a difficult thing to do, so I can appreciate the detail that he put into making it seem so easy. Anyone who leads or wants to inspire should watch this talk.

Check out 10 powerful TEDTalks from Olympians and Paralympians.

The London Olympic Games kick off tomorrow. To get you hyped, here are eight great TEDTalks from Olympians as well as two from inspiring Paralympians.

Maarten van der Weijden: On surviving cancer and becoming Olympic champion
Long-distance swimmer Maarten van der Weijden became a Dutch national hero in 2008 after winning gold at the Beijing Summer Olympics in the 10km open water marathon race, just five years after recovering from leukemia. However, van der Weijden calls the idea that he “beat cancer” a crock and warns against notions that a patient has any influence over whether they survive the devastating disease. (Filmed at TEDxRotterdam.)

Sarah Reinertsen: The first woman with an artificial leg to complete an Ironman
Triathlete Sarah Reinertsen was the world champion going into the 1992 Paralympics, but came home empty-handed and devastated. She recalls how meeting another athlete with an amputated leg inspired her to attempt an Ironman Triathlon. (Filmed at TEDxYouth@Bruce, which was dedicated to the theme “Olympic Spirit.”)

Jeff Olson: How do we inspire kids to make healthy lifestyle choices?
Alpine skier Jeff Olson competed in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, and now worries that the torch Americans have passed on to the next generation is a penchant for unhealthy lifestyle choices. In this talk, Olson talks about what he calls “diseases of affluence.” (Filmed at TEDxMileHigh.)

Caryn Davies: The power of teammates
Rower Caryn Davies almost passed out as she neared the finish line in the women’s eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Luckily, she made it — and won gold. In this talk, Davies admits that training six hours a day for years was often monotonous, but that her teammates inspired her to keep going — just not in the way you’d expect. (Filmed at TEDxYouth@Bruce.)

Jason Rogers: We all write our own story
According to Jason Rogers, a fencer who won Olympic silver in 2008, we all are writers. In this talk, Rogers gives a short history of fencing and shares his Olympic story, filled with fascinating characters and unexpected plot twists that needed to be rewritten in his mind. (Filmed at TEDxYouth@Bruce.)

Rajyavardhan Rathore: Intelligence doesn’t just come in books
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the first silver medal for India since the 1900 Olympics in Paris. In this short talk, Rathore stresses that book smarts aren’t the only type of intelligence, and that wisdom earned through business and sport are equally important. (Filmed at TEDxShekhavati; turn on the captions.)

Steve Mesler: When kids meet their Olympic heroes
Olympic gold medalist Steve Mesler founded the organization Classroom Champions, which connects Olympians and Paralympians with underserved schoolkids via Twitter and email. Here, he shares his vision for the program as “Big Brothers Big Sisters meets 21st-century pen-palling.” (Filmed at TEDxCalgary.)

Marlon Shirley: Overcoming obstacles
Marlon Shirley won back-to-back gold medals in the 100-meter dash at the Paralympic Games of 2000 and 2004. In a talk given over webcam, Shirley tells the story of how he overcame obstacles both physical and situational. (Filmed at TEDxYouth@Bruce.)

Bob Beamon on his world-record long jump
In the 1968 Olympics, track and fielder Bob Beamon pulled off the “leap of the century.” Appearing to take flight in the long jump, Beamon’s jump far exceeded the capabilities of the measuring equipment. In this flipped TED-Ed lesson, Beamon reveals that he thought he might’ve broken the world record by a few inches … but instead blew it out of the water.

Isabel Allende on carrying the Olympic flag
Author and activist Isabel Allende may not have competed in the Olympics, but this talk is pure gold. In it, she describes her “four minutes of fame” as one of the flag bearers at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.