Tokyo Paralympics: China’s 251 athletes going for gold again
- Chinese have topped medal table at every Games since Athens 2004, though this is smallest contingent since Greece
- Tokyo marks 10th Paralympics that China has sent athletes, with all but two sports represented
Some 251 Chinese athletes will take part in the Paralympics, which begin on August 24, with 16-year-old swimmer Jiang Yuyan the youngest and 56-year-old table tennis player Zhao Ping the oldest.
The athletes include 132 women and 119 men that will compete in 20 of the 22 sports on show in Tokyo. China will not compete in equestrian or wheelchair rugby but will take part in the new sports of taekwondo and badminton.
This marks the 10th Paralympic Games that China has sent a delegation, beginning with the 1984 Anglo-American event jointly hosted by Stoke Mandeville and New York.
China has topped the medal tally at every Paralympics since Athens 2004 where they won more golds, more silvers and more bronzes than any other nation.
There were only 200 Chinese athletes in Athens compared to 332 in Beijing 2008, where their largest ever athlete contingent won a staggering 89 golds among 211 total medals.
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China’s gold haul and total medals tally was more than double the next best National Paralympic Committee at the Beijing Games.
Chinese athletes then topped the medal table at London 2012 and at Rio 2016.
In London, China’s 282 athletes won 95 golds and 211 medals in total, while in Rio their 327 athletes won 107 gold among 239 total medals.
The China Administration of Sports for Persons with Disabilities noted that Tokyo will see Chinese athletes compete in the largest number of sports at an overseas Games.
Following a flag ceremony on August 18, China’s first group of athletes travelled to Tokyo yesterday with a second batch following on today. All of the athletes have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
