Beth Arnoult, ranked in the top 20 internationally in singles wheelchair tennis, begins competition Monday in the Paralympic Games. Photo courtesy of BETH ARNOULT

When Mauian Beth Arnoult missed making the U.S. Paralympic tennis team in 2004 by one spot, she thought her chance to represent her country on the largest international stage had passed. Today, in Beijing, China, she will enter the Bird’s Nest stadium in USA gear. On Monday, she will begin competition in wheelchair tennis as one of the top-ranked players in the world. Arnoult is ranked in the top 20 internationally in singles and she and U.S. partner Kaitlyn Verfuerth drew the No. 4 seed for doubles in these games. ‘‘You know, I am going to be one of 220 American athletes and to be one of those, it is a dream I never fathomed as a child,’’ Arnoult said before departing for the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the Americans gathered before departing for Beijing earlier this week. ‘‘Now, to know that I am in that position, it is just incredible. I watched several medal ceremonies in the (recent) Olympics and I was in tears just like any other American.