Dahe Newspaper reporter Cai Junyan
On the evening of October 22, the opening ceremony of the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics Games (hereinafter referred to as the "Special Olympics") was held at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, and Zhang Yan, a disabled athlete from Henan who won three gold medals in the Paralympic Games, was used as the flag bearer to guide the Henan delegation to shine at the opening ceremony and show its style.
In recent years, Henan sports for the disabled have developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. In order to participate in the highest level and largest comprehensive sports event for the disabled in China, which is held every four years, Henan sent 68 athletes to participate in the early competition, and then sent 123 athletes to participate in the concentrated competition, moving towards a faster, higher and stronger arena. He participated in 18 sports such as athletics, swimming, table tennis, cycling, weightlifting, basketball for the deaf, wheelchair basketball, alpine skiing, and mini skiing. Up to now, the athletes of our province have won the excellent results of 7 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze for the Paralympic Games.
The athletes of the Henan Provincial Delegation said one after another that they would carry forward the spirit of self-improvement and hard work and enterprising, compete in a level, style, and achievement, fully display the good spiritual outlook of the disabled in Henan, add color to life, and win glory for Henan.
"Proud! glorious! Zhang Yan, a 54-year-old paralympic table tennis player, served as the standard-bearer of the Henan representative team at the opening ceremony, and was particularly excited, this "veteran" who has been competing in the arena for many years has won the Athens Paralympic Games TT4 class singles gold medal, team bronze medal, Beijing Paralympic TT4 team silver medal, London Paralympic Games TT4 team gold medal, singles silver medal, Tokyo Paralympic men's team C4-5 team gold medal and other brilliant achievements.
Zhang Yan is a native of Zhengzhou, Henan, when he was young, he was disabled due to illness, he began to carry out formal training in wheelchair table tennis in 2000, and has never slackened for 21 years, the left hand of the wheelchair is covered with calluses, over the years, his tenacity to work hard remains unchanged, and he is more confident and happy in the struggle. He is the representative of the majority of Henan disabled athletes and disabled friends who are self-reliant.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Yan's wife Ren Guixiang also participated in the Paralympic Games, striving to win the gold medal in the table tennis arena and win glory for Henan.
With the theme of "Light Up Dreams and Set Sail for Love", this year's Special Olympics has set up 43 major events and 47 sub-events, with more than 4,000 players from all over the country participating, and the number of competition items and participants has reached the highest in the past. The opening ceremony focused on the concept of integration of disability and health, and the concept of common prosperity of disabled and healthy, and depicted a moving picture of the disabled struggling for a new era and sharing a new life. The much-anticipated cultural and sports exhibition highlights the spiritual outlook of disabled actors, and uses the three theme words of "warmth, self-improvement and bloom" to connect and create a common dream. The song "We Are Together" was also sung at the opening ceremony, showing the world the spirit of self-improvement, hard work and uplifting attitude of the disabled.
Source: Dahe News Editor: Hou Xiaoyong