Swimmer Wang Xiaofu from hosts Yunnan has become the most striking star at the 7th Chinese National Games for the Disabled with an enviable collection of nine golds in all events he took part in and surpassed two world records, all of his own.
Since the very beginning, Wang has been attracting the limelight at the opening ceremony where he was chosen to light the cauldron.
The 18-year-old has competed in nine swimming events, the most for any individual athlete at the National Games, to be concluded here on Sunday. On his way to success, he also bettered his own world records in both the men's 200m individual medley (SM8) in 2:24.29 and the 100m butterfly (S8) in 1:01.28.
"I have realized my goal of a big slam," said Wang, adding, "but there is still a pity for me as I failed to break the men's 50m freestyle world record at the Games."
Wang lost his right arm in an electrical accident when he was five years old, and his family had to borrow money for his rehabilitation. It was not until 2004 that he received the prize money from the Paralympics to eventually pay off the arrears.
Coach Zhang Honghu was satisfied with Wang's form, saying "Wang Xiaofu wants to make breakthroughs at those events he hasn't attended. He has shown good form at the Games."
In his world of cleanness, Wang told Xinhua that the anti-doping measures at the Games were strict and he received several tests before and after the competitions, and all the tests turned out to be negative.
So far, Wang holds all the five world records of 50m, 100m, 400m freestyles, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley in his S8 classes, which is the most of all Chinese disabled athletes.
At the age of 12, Wang was selected into the provincial training team. He left his hometown of Yuxi for the first time, the other hosting city of the Games, traveling some 100 kilometers for a new life in Kunming.
Instead of being a "mamma boy", Wang immediately showed to the people from all over the world his amazing performances in the swimming pool.
Like the iconic American swimmer prodigy Michael Phelps who has six world records to his credit, Wang collected five gold medals in 2002 from the Asian Games and the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, breaking two world records. In the same year, he rewrote three other world records in the World Championships in Argentina by winning five gold medals.
He also took three golds, one silver and one bronze from the Athens Paralympics 2004.
With the Beijing Paralympics some 400 hundreds of days away, Wang has fixed his sight on the winning note: "I want to take these events as a rehearsal for the Beijing Paralympics 2008.
There's no limit in the individual events, and I will compete in all the seven individual events, the most allowed for a swimmer, in the Paralympics."
"For this, I will train hard, especially in both butterfly and breaststroke events, which are my weak points." |
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