On August 29th, 2024, the Paris Paralympics officially opened. Among the 284 Chinese athletes competing, 32 are from Guangdong. They will compete in 11 sports and 47 events, including athletics, swimming, cycling, table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, archery, boccia, blind judo, blind football, and wheelchair basketball.
First, nine female athletes from Guangdong will compete in wheelchair basketball, representing about half of China's national team. Lin Suiling, who has frequently served as the national team captain and was a torchbearer of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, Zhang Xuemei, the flag bearer at the closing ceremony of theTokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, and Huang Xiaolian, the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of Hangzhou Asian Para Games, are key players. In Tokyo Paralympics, China's women's wheelchair basketball team won silver, the best result in Paralympic history.
In table tennis, Guangdong's Huang Wenjuan, Pan Jiamin, and Xiong Guiyan will compete. Xiong, at 48, is the oldest athlete in the Chinese delegation this year, marking her third Paralympics. The youngest, Huang Wenjuan, born after 2000, won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics at age 16, with Pan Jiamin earning silver.
In Boccia, Guangdong's Zheng Yuansen, Lan Zhijian, and Lin Ximei are competing.Boccia is a sport in which Guangdong excels. The national boccia training base is located in Guangzhou, and the national team coach, Tan Weilin, is from Guangdong. Zheng, at 35, is participating in his fourth Paralympics, making him the most experienced Paralympic athlete from Guangdong.
In athletics, Guangdong's veteran athletes Zhou Guohua, Deng Peicheng, and Yang Yifei are competing. Zhou, a 34-year-old blind athlete, is a two-time gold medalist in the London and Rio Paralympics and will again partner with guide runner Jia Dengpu. Deng won gold in Tokyo, while Yang earned silver in Rio and gold in Hangzhou.
In blind football, Zhang Jiabin and Xu Guansheng from Zhanjiang, Guangdong, are seasoned players. Zhang is the captain of China's blind football team, and Xu, his fellow hometown player, was the youngest to join the national team at 16.
In cycling, five cyclists from Guangdong are competing. Veteran Chen Jianxin, 38, won gold in Tokyo, while Wang Xiaomei and Sun Bianbian claimed silver in Tokyo. Liang Weicong and Liu Qiangli are gold medalists from the Hangzhou Asian Para Games.
In archery, Chen Minyi and Lin Yueshan, two female archers from Guangdong, are competing. Both won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics. In badminton, Guangdong's Mai Jianpeng and Yang Jianyuan are competing. Mai, a gold medalist in the Tokyo Paralympics, is competing in his second Paralympics, while Yang is making his debut. In swimming, 25-year-old Huang Xianquan from Guangdong is competing, who was a gold medalist from the Hangzhou Asian Para Games. In blind judo, Li Liqing, a female judoka from Foshan, Guangdong, is competing. She won gold in Rio. In weightlifting, 31-year-old Ye Jixiong from Guangdong is competing, having won silver in the men's 88 kg category at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Beyond the competition, the Paralympics offer many moments of inspiration. Regardless of medal wins, just competing on the global stage makes these athletes champions in their own right. Let's cheer them on!
Source | Yangcheng Evening News
