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Paralympic delegates fly high
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-09-11 01:01
A 200-strong Chinese delegation left Beijing for the Athens Paralympic
Games on Friday.
A 286-member Chinese delegation is ready to
board a chartered plane in Beijing on Friday for the Athens Paralympic
Games. China is sending its largest-ever Paralympic delegation to the
Athens Games, which runs between September 17-28.
[newsphoto] | The 200 athletes, including 90
female competitors, formed the largest-ever Chinese Paralympic delegation since
China's Paralympic debut in Los Angeles in 1984.
The Chinese athletes are to compete in 284 disciplines of 11 out of 19 sports
listed on the games programme in Athens, including athletics, swimming, table
tennis, shooting, powerlifting, judo, cycling, archery, wheelchair fencing,
wheelchair tennis and sitting volleyball.
China fielded 87 athletes in Sydney four years ago, winning 34 golds to rank
six on the final medal table.
In Athens, the Chinese delegation is aiming to surpass the Sydney Games both
in terms of gold medals and the overall medal tally ranking.
Meanwhile, the Chinese athletes with an average age of 26, one year younger
than that of the Chinese athletes at the Sydney games, are expected to gain more
experience for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Zhang Xiaoling, a table tennis player, said at Capital International Airport
that she hopes to continue her gold medal rush following her debut at the Seoul
Games in 1988.
Forty-seven-year old marksman Huang Wei said that his main aim at the Games
was to exceed himself.
More than 4,000 athletes from more than 140 countries and regions will take
part in the 12th Paralympic Games in Athens.
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