An unceasing moderate rain since nightfall didn't extinguish the enthusiasm for athletics competition of the Beijing Paralympic Games on Tuesday when 20 gold medals were split by diverse countries and regions in the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.

Day Two of track and field started in a rainy and gloomy morning. However it was brightened up by three track and four field finals unfolding in a packed stadium.

Lucas Prado from Brazil did what he has been doing all week in the men's 100m T11 (complete visually impaired) and broke his own world record to win the gold medal in 11.03 seconds.

In the men's 100m T44 (ambulant athletes with amputations and other disabilities), South African "blade runner" Oscar Pistorius, the only T43(more serious level) runner in the final, won the gold in 11.17 second, though just missed his Paralympic record of 11.16s. The USA's Jerome Singleton and Brian Frasure took out the silver and bronze medals respectively.

In the men's 4x100m relay T53/54 (wheelchair athletes with different levels of spinal cord injuries and amputations), host China who set a world record of 49.89 seconds in qualifying for the final, won the gold medal in 49.9 seconds with fantastic teamwork.

The Athens gold and silver medalists in the relay, Thailand and Australia, failed to bring any trouble to the Chinese quartet. Thais won the silver and Australians were disqualified.

"We cooperated very well," said Zong Kai, Chinese first leg. "We tried to break the world record, but the raining has affected our performance a lot. The lane and our gloves are all getting very slippery."

"My mother was not among the spectators, but she must be watching on TV. All that I have achieved is owed to her. It's her who gave me the second life. She sacrificed a lot for me when I was ill," said Zhang Lixin, the third leg.

For the field events on Tuesday, spectators in the stadium were treated to plenty of excitement with a number of world record performances.

In the men's long jump F37/38, Farhat Chida from Tunisia jumped an F38 world record of 6.36m on his second attempt to take the lead. Pakistani Haider Ali then equaled the distance on his third to share the lead. Chida bettered the F38 world record, with a 0.9 wind-aided 6.44m, on his second last jump to secure the gold. Ali equalled this record on his final leap, but with a stronger wind aid of 1.9m per second to receive the silver medal.

The bronze medalist, China's Ma Yuxi, set F37 world record of 6.12m on his first jump, and then bettered his record to 6.19m on his final jump.

In the men's shot put F57/58 (wheelchair athletes with different levels of spinal cord injuries or amputations), all three medalists in Athens were on the start list but only Jamil Elshebli from Jordan secured a silver, but he bettered his own 57 class world record. The gold medal went to Russia's Alexey Ashapatov who shattered his own 58 class world record with his final throw of 16.03m.

In the women's shot put F57/58, Eucharia Njideka Iyiazi from Nigeria laughed last to win the gold medal with a result of 10.96m after her competitors set new leading positions one after another.

But the Paralympians in Beijing not only set records in the finals: in the heats of men's 400m T13, Luis Manuel Galano from Cuba clocked a Paralympic record of 49.28s seconds. In the women's 400m T53 heats, Jessica Galli of the United States created a tournament record in 56.10 seconds. South Korea's Suk-Man Hong's 49.13 seconds earned him a Paralympic record in the heats of the men's 400m T53.

Editor: Yan