Chinese Para biathletes Liu Zixu and Guo Yujie won the country’s first gold medals of the Beijing Winter Paralympics in the men’s sprint sitting and women’s sprint standing, respectively, on Saturday. The hosts got off to a super start on day one of the Games, shooting to second in the overall medal table with eight – two gold, three silver and three bronze medals. A much fired-up Ukraine leads the tally with three golds. Aside from Liu and Guo’s golds, teammates Shan Yilin won silver in the women’s sprint sitting, Liu Mengtao clinched bronze in men’s sprint sitting, and Zhao Zhiqing bronze in the women’s sprint standing in Zhangjiakou throughout in the day. The two Lius were considered medal favourites, with 24-year-old Xian native Liu Zixu dominating the European circuit having switched from Para archery, and 21-year-old Hebei athlete Liu Mengtao not far behind. Liu Zixu won China’s first Para biathlon gold at the Para Cross-Country Skiing Europa Cup in Finland last year, while Liu Mengtao took silver. The pair, who lost their legs in a car accident early in life, are also considered medal contenders for the cross-country skiing events, as is women’s biathlon entrant Shan. “The medal means that I stood on the top of the podium as a Para biathlete competing for my country internationally. I’m really proud,” Liu Zixu told Reuters. “It’s a sport that is both dynamic and static. It’s very challenging. Shooting well is hard, and skiing fast is difficult.” In the Para alpine skiing, Zhang Mengqiu and Zhu Daqing finished with silvers in the women’s downhill standing and women’s downhill vision impaired events, while Liu Sitong earned a bronze in the women’s downhill sitting in Yanqing. Zhang shocked two former Paralympic champions in the World Cup season two years ago to win China’s first-ever Para alpine skiing gold medal, winning another three through the season. Zhu, meanwhile, said her surprise podium finish was extra significant having missed out in an athletics spot at the 2008 Para Winter Games in Beijing. The 32-year-old burst onto the 100m scene after winning world championships gold and three more at the National Games in 2007, but missed out on a 2008 team spot after her doctors told her she required immediate surgery or else she would lose her vision totally. “Facing difficulties is easier than dealing with the regrets – I think I can overcome any difficulties now,” Zhu, who won gold at the 2010 Asian Para Games, told Xinhua after her run. “Although I looked like a healthy girl since childhood, I couldn’t see the blackboard in my kindergarten – even standing near my teacher’s desk. My parents took me to many hospitals around the country, but all the doctors shook their heads when talking about the situation.” Zhu ultimately submitted to the doctors’ and coaches’ orders, despite easing to first-place in the national trials. She called it “the hardest decision of my life” upon reflection, but her unflappable passion for sports allowed her to make a name at the Para alpine skiing national trials three years ago. “I am satisfied with my performance. I tried to show my best in today’s competition and I did,” she said some 14 years later. “When I heard the national anthem played on the podium, I was very excited. I see my value thanks to my coaching staff.” The China wheelchair curling team, who are the reigning Winter Paralympic champions and considered to be one of the country’s big medal hopes, got off to a slow start after losing 7-3 to Canada in the round robin events. All medallists will feature in a victory ceremony in the evening. China have previously only won one medal at the Winter Paralympics – Wang Haitao, Chen Jianxin, Liu Wei, Wang Meng and Zhang Qiang’s wheelchair curling gold at the Pyeongchang Games four years ago. China traditionally sends several men and women in the biathlon or cross-country skiing disciplines. This time they have 96 athletes competing in 73 events from five different sports to the Beijing Games. But the host nation’s early alpine skiing success is a surprise, given China sent just one woman, Liu Sitong, in 2018. Liu missed her exit in Pyeongchang but won bronze in Beijing. Liu, who lost her leg in a car accident in her youth, is reportedly a former national handcycling champion who had been skiing for one year before her Paralympics debut in 2018. The Chinese Para Alpine skiers have been in scintillating form in the previous World Cup seasons, with Liu winning multiple medals. China reportedly started its big Winter Paralympic crossover sports programme push in 2017, with similar goals to the Olympics in competing for a Beijing medal haul.