At the Riocentro Pavilion 2, the only sound in the table tennis arena was a steady tapping as the two competitors in the gold medal match struggled for points.
On one side of the table was Xue Juan. On the other, Li Qian — both Chinese Paralympians in wheelchairs. Their match was one of two to decide a gold medal on Monday that only featured athletes from China.
After Xue defeated Li, and Zhang Bian beat Gu Gai in the later match, each winner quietly acknowledged the victory, wheeled to the middle of the table and shook the hand of her countrywoman.
There were no screaming fans, and little celebration. However, in Rio, the scene has become routine, across the menu of sports — China is dominating the Paralympics.
After competition ended on Tuesday, China held a huge lead at the top of the board with 147 total medals (63 golds) through six days of competition. The next closest country, Britain, had 75 medals in all.
Ukraine (72) were next, with the US (61) in fourth and hosts Brazil (43) in fifth.
China has topped the medal board in the past three Summer Paralympics, beginning at the 2004 Athens Games.
This year, China has more than 300 athletes, a physical representation of the country’s commitment to keeping its spot as a Paralympic powerhouse, but it can also be seen as a strategy: More athletes competing means more opportunities to collect medals.
This was evident soon after China stepped foot on Brazilian soil. On Friday last week, China won 14 medals in swimming, including two all-China podiums in men’s 50m and 100m butterfly races. The victories have not stopped.
However, some athletes have been raising questions about China’s dominance in Rio.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Philip Craven was on Monday asked at a news conference about complaints that Brazilian competitors had been making about potential cheating by Chinese athletes.
“We had a very informal, short board meeting this morning of the IPC and that issue was brought up to us and it is something that we will look into in the future, not to do necessarily with doping, we always look into that anyway, but with regard to what particularly the Brazilian athletes are thinking and saying,” Craven said.
A spokesman for the IPC later said Craven was referring primarily to whether some Chinese athletes had been classified properly. Russia was banned from Rio for systematic doping, raising suspicion about cheating generally.
In the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on Tuesday, China was at it again.
Yang Bozun and Zhang Xiaotong claimed gold medals and world records in the 100m men’s and women’s breaststroke finals for blind competitors. Neither was the top finisher in qualifiers.
By the end of the night, China had won eight medals and broken five world records.
After her race, Zhang was asked about the secret to China’s success at the Paralympic Games.
“It is because we train very hard in China and it is a whole teamwork for the entire China team,” Zhang said through an interpreter.
Whatever it is seems to be paying off.
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