Chinese Paralympic Delegation Equals Golds Tally of AtlantaChina has won a total of 16 golds in the Sydney Paralympic Games, equalling the gold tally they set in Atlanta four years ago.World record holder Zhu Hongyan clocked a winning time of one minute 1.97 seconds in the women's 100 meters freestyle S12 event, which was China's sole gold on Tuesday and her second at the Games. Zhu, 25, winner of the 200m individual medley SM12 event on Saturday, thus became the most decorated athlete of the Chinese delegation for the Games. The gold more or less made up for the disappointment of China's defending champion Gong Baoren in the men's 100m breaststroke SB7 event. Gong, 29, finished just three hundredths of a second behind the eventual winner Sascha Kindred from Britain, who set a Paralympic record of 1:25.13. "It is really a pity, only a margin of 0.03 seconds," Gong said. "I will not have a chance to do it again as my age would not allow me to go on." But there was a few complaints about the classification, which put the armless Gong with those with arms. "The margin of 0.03 seconds have much to do with the difference in terms of arms," said his coach Zhang Honghu. On a day with eight sports in action and 186 golds on offer, China also won two more silvers and two bronzes to end up sixth in the medal table with 37 medals. The hosts Australia retained its lead with 29 golds, followed by Spain (23) and Britain (22). |
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