With two stumps instead of arms, four-time Athens Paralympic gold medalist He Junquan cites both his will to overcome adversity and strong governmental support for China's meteoric rise to the top of the medal table at the Paralympic Games.
China's 7-a-side soccer team trains for the Beijing Paralympic Games on May 14 at the China Disability Sports Training Center, also the national Paralympic sports training base, in Beijing's Shunyi district. [China Daily] |
"I have never been discouraged although my body is different from other people's. My teammates and I really cherish the good training environment here," the swimmer, who will compete at the Beijing Paralympics, said at the China Disability Sports Training Center (CDSTC) in Beijing's suburban Shunyi district. The center doubles as the national Paralympic sports training base.
As the world's largest sports training site for people with disabilities, the CDSTC covers 238,235 sqm and includes a multi-sports training gym, a swimming hall, a goalball hall, a cycling track, two outdoor football fields and two archery ranges.
"Right now a wheelchair basketball team, a swimming team, a 7-a-side soccer team, and an athletics team are training in the center," said Director Jia Yong.
Designed to meet the special needs of people with disabilities, the training center provides strong support for the Chinese teams preparing for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. After the Games, it will be available for use by athletes with disabilities at home and abroad.
"Training the athletes with physical or mental disabiliites is much harder than training athletes without disabilities. It's difficult for them to maintain equilibrium when running and jumping," said Cui Baogen, the 71-year-old head coach of the athletics team.
The center also works to build their social life and self-belief.
There are more than 2 million disabled athletes in China. Some 1.5 million will help prepare for the Beijing Paralympic Games, while over 500,000 will help out at the Special Olympic World Games, and 600,000 for the International Silent Games, said Tang Xiaoquan, executive vice-president of BOCOG.
At the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, China harvested 63 gold medals and 141 medals overall to rank first on both tallies for the first time in the country's history.
"Chinese athletes will participate in all 20 sports during the 2008 Paralympic Games, which reflects the universality of participation by Chinese athletes and that of the development of Paralympic sports in China," said Zhao Sujing, spokeswoman for China's Paralympic delegation.
