Swimmer basks in glory as China's first gold medallist

Semi-paralysed Du Jianping sets new world mark

Unlike most of his able-bodied compatriot counterparts at the Olympics, Du Jianping was not chased by big-time sponsors or swamped by adoring fans.

But the 25-year-old semi-paralysed swimmer found himself basking in unprecedented public attention after winning China's first gold medal on day one of the action at the Beijing Paralympics yesterday.

'Sorry, I feel very nervous ... it is my first time [to talk to so many reporters],' a soft-spoken Du said at the National Aquatic Centre, better known as the 'Water Cube', an hour after he set a new world mark in narrowly winning the men's 100 metres freestyle in the S3 classification. Swimmers in the S3 category have reasonable arm strokes but no use of their legs or trunk. In the classification system, the severity of impairment is denoted in reverse numerical order, with S1 indicating the highest level of disability.

Du, who touched the wall in front of a raucous full-house crowd, was only able to use his right arm, assisted by minimum drive from his legs, debilitated by polio from an early age.

The swimmer, who won two Paralympic golds in Athens four years ago, led the first half of the race in style but saw Ukraine's Dmytro Vynohradets close the gap after the turn. 'I was choked by water, especially in the second half,' said Du, who started serious swimming training in 1999. 'Otherwise I could have clocked an even better time.'

But his time of 1:35.21 knocked 6.87 seconds off the previous world record. Vynohradets finished 0.44 seconds adrift. Li Hanhua finished third and bagged China's second medal in the Games.