In the Beijing Winter Paralympic Winter Games Paralympic Men's Steeplechase (UL Level) finals held on the afternoon of March 7, Chinese athletes Ji Lijia, Wang Pengyao and Zhu Yonggang won gold, silver and bronze medals, Zhang Yiqi won the fourth place, and the top four were "all round" by Chinese athletes. The Chinese delegation made this historic breakthrough with four "post-00s" generation.
Wang Pengyao (left) Ji Lijia (center) Zhu Yonggang (right)
Before the afternoon race, the gold medal in the Paralympic Snowboard Men's Steeplechase (UL Class) was no longer in doubt. In the previous semi-finals, Chinese athletes performed well and locked up all four seats in the finals. Whoever wins the championship belongs to China.
At the beginning of the finals, Ji Lijia took the lead, followed by Wang Pengyao, and Zhu Yonggang and Zhang Yiqi ranked third and fourth respectively. There was no suspense in the race, and Ji Lijia maintained the initial lead to the finish line. The four Chinese athletes reached the finish line, and the song of "Chinese Fan" sounded at the scene, and the audience stage boiled.
"It felt like a dream!" Ji Lijia, who won the championship, was very excited. He said that as a disabled person, he is very excited to be able to win glory for the country like a healthy person. Born in 2002, Ji Lijia has the highest number of points among the world's disabled snowboarding men's upper limb athletes.
Ji Lijia (blue vest) Wang Pengyao (green vest) in the game
The gold medal won by Ji Lijia also made history. This is the first gold medal won by a Chinese athlete in the Paralympic snowboarding event at the Winter Paralympic Games. "I will always be an athlete if my physical condition allows and will never give up. For the sake of China, I will continue to insist. China will always be the first! ”
Wang Pengyao, who won the silver medal, was born in 2000. After the game, he wore a national flag and his face was full of joy. He said that before setting off, the four people cheered each other up, no matter who won the championship, the pride belongs to China!
"Without national support, it would be impossible for the four of us to stand on the final stage at the same time." Wang Pengyao admitted that with the help of coaches and the support of teammates, they were able to compete in every track and complete historic breakthroughs again and again. He said that obstacle chases are high-risk events in snow sports, and falling is commonplace. "We got up from fallbacks again and again and then we trained and made history."
Zhu Yonggang, who won the bronze medal, was born in 2002. In the semi-finals, with a beautiful overtaking, he jumped from third in the group to first in the group, thus advancing to the grand final, which made him very satisfied with his performance. "Before the finals, everyone laughed and said, 'We're the 'National Games'." Before the game, Zhu Yonggang promised his sister that he would win back a "Jin Rongrong" and go home. He kept his promise.
Beijing athlete Zhang Yiqi finished fourth. Of the four Chinese athletes, Zhang Yiqi, born in 2004, is the youngest. In qualifying, he finished only seventh. But in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, he played well and stood on the starting stage for the grand finals. "Keep up the good work!" Zhang Yiqi said.
It is worth mentioning that the gold, silver and bronze medalists in this competition are all Hebei athletes. Ji Lijia is from Shenze, Hebei, Wang Pengyao is from the ancient city of Hebei, and Zhu Yonggang is from Feixiang, Hebei. Next, they will compete in the Paralympic Snowboard Men's Slope Slalom (UL Class) competition on 12 March. "We must continue to work hard and strive to win another medal for China!" Ji Lijia said.