China has sent 332 athletes to the Beijing Paralympics. (Getty Images)China’s Qing Suping was fearful heading into her first Paralympic Games, but her concerns were unfounded. The 38-year-old wheelchair athlete captured a gold medal in women’s javelin Thursday in Beijing.
"My muscles were tense and I couldn't relax," she told reporters. "Later on, I convinced myself to relax and try my best. I didn't expect to do so well."
She may have been surprised, but few others were. Heading into the Games, Chinese athletes were expected to dominate and some British officials predicted China would win 70 to 75 gold medals overall.
After five days of competition, China has collected 96 medals, 33 of which are gold. Britain, second in the medal count, has won 57 medals, including 27 gold.
The Chinese athletes’ success represents more than a triumph for the world’s most populous country. It also represents an accomplishment for the disabled in general.
To start, the impressive performances of Chinese athletes at the Beijing Paralympics helps to eliminate the stigma associated with being disabled in certain parts of the world.
More will 'dare' to play, coach says
"Chinese athletes are still concerned about the stigma of being disabled, so a lot of players who qualify to play [in disabled sports] don't dare join in," Xu Yuansheng, the men's basketball coach, told The Times Online.
"We think the Paralympic Games are going to advance wheelchair basketball in China and we think more and more disabled people will come to love this game."
Wang Wei, a senior official with the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, added that attitudes are beginning to change.
"With the Paralympics staged in Beijing, I think it's going to promote it in the right track for people to be more aware of people with disabilities and create a better environment for people with a disability."
Also, the Chinese team’s success shows that disabled individuals can make great gains with some support.
The Chinese government started supporting disabled sport in earnest just eight years ago, when Beijing launched its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
In subsequent years, China poured millions of dollars into Paralympic sport, providing its athletes with the latest in high-tech, sport-specific wheelchairs.
Major training sites built for disabled
It also built 18 sports training bases for people with a disability and a massive multi-sport, residential facility in Beijing. It has gymnasiums for wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball, a goalball hall, a cycling track, a swimming pool and archery ranges, as well as two outdoor soccer fields.
China sent 332 athletes to the Beijing Paralympics, 130 more than it sent to the 2004 Athens Paralympics and 308 more than it sent to the 1984 Paralympics, which were held in England.
Not surprisingly, with heightened interest in Paralympic sport came greater interest in facilities for the disabled.
In the run-up to the Paralympic Games, Beijing officials spent millions making the city accessible for the disabled. Barrier-free facilities were installed in buses, taxis, subway stations, shopping malls and hotels.
Also, Beijing made some of its most popular tourist attractions more accessible for the disabled. The local government invested about 67 million yuan ($10 million US) building barrier-free facilities at 60 tourist attractions.
The Badaling section of the Great Wall now has two elevators and a wheelchair ramp to take disabled visitors up the hillside. Also, the Palace Museum has a 1,000-metre, barrier-free pathway that allows wheelchair visitors to travel along the central axis of the palace.
Though China, like many countries, has a long way to go in its treatment of disabled people, its motto for this Summer Olympics and Paralympics, “Two Games with Equal Splendour,” helps to show it is making strides.