China established a huge lead at the top of the Paralympics medals table yesterday evening, racing to 80 golds — almost double the haul of its nearest rival on the last night of swimming in Beijing.
Vying with Britain for top spot earlier in these Games, the host nation now has 187 medals in total compared with Britain’s 41 golds and 96 medals.
As well as dominating the athletics events with a remarkable 34 golds, China’s haul includes 13 swimming golds, 10 in table tennis and eight in powerlifting.
PHOTO: AFP
On the final night of action in the Water Cube, Australia’s Matthew Cowdrey won his fifth gold, to match South Africa’s Olympian Natalie du Toit.
He helped his team to a first-place finish in the men’s 4x100m medley to go with his earlier golds in the 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle.
China also took triple gold in fencing to take their total of fencing golds to five, with Zhang Chuncui shocking Hong Kong’s world champion Yu Chui Yee, while Tian Jianquan and Hu Daoliang also won.
During the morning, Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc — chasing a fifth gold in these Games — qualified for the 1,500m final in her class as she bids to add to her 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m titles.
South Africa’s Du Toit, who finished 16th in the Olympic 10km marathon swim last month, pledged earlier yesterday to aim for more Olympic and Paralympic glory.
Du Toit, who also won five Paralympic golds and a silver in Athens, is aiming to qualify for the 800m freestyle in the pool at the London Olympics as well as the 10km, where she is hoping for a top 10 or top five placing.
She also vowed to go for seven golds at the London Paralympics, adding the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke to her program.
Partyka won table tennis gold in her class last week, but failed to inspire Poland to victory in the gold medal match of the team competition.
With the Games due to end tomorrow, London Mayor Boris Johnson left for Beijing to accept the Paralympic flag at the Games’ closing ceremony.
“My aim is to make the 2012 Games the most accessible and unified Games yet, Games that will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come,” he said.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
RSS