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On March 5, the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games ushered in the first day of competition after the opening ceremony, and in 12 gold medal games, the Chinese delegation played an outstanding role, setting a record, winning 2 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze, temporarily ranking second in the gold medal list.
In the morning of March 5, the Chinese team began the rhythm of making history. In the women's downhill (visually impaired) competition in Zhangjiakou, China's Zhu Daqing won silver, the first medal won by the Chinese delegation at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games and the first medal won by mainland athletes in the winter Paralympic snow event.
Shortly after Zhu Daqing made history, the Chinese team opened its gold account at the Winter Paralympic Games. In the biathlon men's sprint (sitting) competition, the Chinese athletes reported a good news, Liu Zixu finished the race with a time of 18 minutes 51.50 seconds, winning the first gold medal of the Winter Paralympic Games for the Chinese delegation, which is also the second winter Paralympic gold medal in Chinese history, and the first snow sports gold medal and the first individual gold medal of the Winter Paralympic Games won by Chinese disabled athletes.
In 2008, Liu Zixu was seriously injured in a car accident and had a unilateral lower limb amputation. In the face of this sudden change, he was not depressed. In 2017, Liu Zixu joined the national training teams for cross-country skiing and biathlon for the disabled, and has since opened a new chapter in his life. You know, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult sports in ice and snow sports, but Liu Zixu resisted the pressure, overcame difficulties, and stubbornly persevered. And now this heavy gold medal is the best reward for his unremitting efforts in the past.
Later in the biathlon women's sprint (standing) competition, Guo Yujie, who was the flag bearer of the opening ceremony, won another gold for the Chinese delegation with a total of 20 minutes 32 seconds 6 seconds. This also increased the number of gold medals of the Chinese delegation at the Winter Paralympic Games to 2, thus surpassing the best in history created at the last Pyeongchang Winter Paralympic Games. It is worth mentioning that after attending the evening opening ceremony on the evening of March 4, Guo Yujie returned to the Winter Olympic Village in Zhangjiakou at 1 a.m. "I went to bed after a bite of pizza last night, and if it wasn't for my roommate waking me up this morning, I would have been late and probably wouldn't have been able to compete." Guo Yujie said this in an interview with the media after the game. It can be seen that although there are still a few days to celebrate her 18th birthday, the Zhangjiakou girl who fights at the doorstep maintains a good attitude.
In addition, in the alpine skiing women's downhill station project, Zhang Mengqiu won the silver medal. In the biathlon women's 6 km sitting event, Shan Yilin added another silver to the Chinese delegation. In the alpine skiing women's downhill sitting competition, Liu Sitong won the bronze medal. On the first official match day of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, the Chinese team temporarily topped the medal table with 8 medals, which brought people a huge surprise. Behind this dream start is actually the history of the Chinese Winter Paralympic Movement for 20 years of difficult start, persistent progress and unremitting struggle.
Time back to 20 years ago, in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Paralympic Games in the United States, China appeared for the first time as a participating country in the Winter Paralympic Games, 4 Chinese athletes participated in cross-country skiing, alpine skiing 2 major events, 8 small events, for the first time the figure of Chinese paralympic athletes written in the history of the Winter Paralympic Games. Four years later, the 9th Winter Paralympic Games were held in Turin, Italy, and the Chinese delegation sent a total of 8 athletes to participate, although there were still no medals in the account, but the gap between Chinese players and European and American players has gradually narrowed. In 2010, at the Vancouver Winter Paralympic Games, China sent a total of 7 athletes to participate, of which Wu Yuanyuan won the fifth place in the women's 5 km traditional cross-country skiing event, which refreshed the best result of the Chinese Winter Paralympic team since the competition, and she was also known as the "one-armed woman".
At the 2002 Winter Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City, USA, a Chinese delegation attended the opening ceremony.
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games, the number of Chinese team participants reached a new high of 10, of which the Chinese wheelchair curling team, which debuted at the Winter Paralympic Games, won the fourth place, once again refreshing the best result of the Chinese team in the Winter Paralympic Games. In July 2015, Beijing and Zhangjiakou won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and the winter Paralympic movement in mainland China ushered in a major development opportunity. In 2018, the 12th Winter Paralympic Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which was a milestone for the winter sports of the disabled in China. In that year, China sent 26 athletes to participate in 5 major events and 30 minor events except for paralympic ice hockey, which was the largest and most participated in the previous Chinese delegation to the Winter Paralympic Games. Among them, the disabled snowboarding and the disabled biathlon are the first time to participate. In the curling event, the Chinese team won the championship in one fell swoop with a 6-5 victory over the rival and three-time gold medalist Norway. After 16 years, the Chinese delegation finally achieved a breakthrough of zero medals and gold medals in the Winter Paralympic Games.
In the following four years, in order to welcome the arrival of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, the ice and snow sports for the disabled in the mainland have been comprehensively laid out and the team has been expanded. Not only select outstanding athletes nationwide, but also hire domestic and foreign high-level coaches, the whole project to form a national training team, supporting competition training halls are also established. The number of Winter Paralympic athletes has grown from less than 50 to nearly 1,000 today. The number of major events in which mainland athletes participate in the Winter Paralympic Games has been expanded from the initial 2 to 6, achieving full coverage of the major events of the Continental Winter Paralympic Games. In terms of training and competition, the mainland has also carried out uninterrupted training throughout the year, combining summer training with winter training, domestic and overseas training, training and competition, and the competitive level of athletes has been continuously improved. For example, Guo Yujie won the third place in the women's 20th winter stand group of the Euro 2021 Finland Biathlon, and these competitions have allowed athletes to accumulate valuable experience. In addition, under the leadership of "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports", various ice and snow sports for the disabled have also been carried out. In 2016, the mainland held the first "Ice and Snow Sports Season for the Disabled", when only 14 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) participated in the disabled athletes, and through the six consecutive sessions, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) have participated.
From Salt Lake City to Beijing, in 20 years, under the unremitting efforts of everyone and under the guidance of the goal of "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports", China's ice and snow sports for the disabled have struggled and developed all the way. Today, Paralympic athletes from all over the world gather in China, and I believe that the athletes of the Chinese delegation will continue to work hard and write a new chapter for them in the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games.