By Associated Press

LONDON — This year’s Paralympics are expected to draw their largest ever live television audience — except in the United States, where events will receive only minimal coverage and won’t be screened as they happen, prompting anger from some fans and campaigners.

While viewers in countries including Brazil, China, Britain and Australia will enjoy several hours of coverage per day, U.S. audiences must contend with 5 1/2 hours of programming — some of which will air only after the 11-day competition in London has concluded on Sept. 9.

That has left some equality campaigners complaining that Paralympic athletes, who include military veterans, aren’t being treated as the equal of their able-bodied teammates.

Several online petitions are seeking to persuade major U.S. networks to screen Paralympic sports, amid an apparent surge in interest fueled by high profile athletes like South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee known as the “Blade Runner” who competed in the men’s 400 meters and 4x400 relay at the Olympics.