BEIJING -- Forget Du Li and Katerina Emmons.
Without the pinups, spectators were still ardent and shooters equally concentrated in the same venue where Du and Emmons won gold medals at last month's Olympic Games.
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China's Jin Xiaoqin (C) swims next to compatriot Chen Zhonglan (R) and Russia's Anna Vengerovskaya (L) during the Women's 100m Butterfly S8 heat at the National Aquatics Centre, or the Water Cube, in Beijing September 7, 2008. [Agencies]
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When the young Slovakian shooter Veronika Vadovicova nabbed the first Paralympic gold, excited spectators cheered.
When Australian 10-time Paralympian Libby Kosmala, already 66 years old and appearing a little bit tired in the lengthy competition, didn't do well in some shots, she was also greeted with applauses.
It gave people an illusion that everybody is the champion.
In fact, this is indeed the case to some extent.
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Beijing Paralympics 1st gold medalist Veronika Vadovicova of Slovak competes in the women's 10-meter air rifle standing SH1 final in Beijing, September 7, 2008. [Xinhua]
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I met an Australian man namely Jason Maroney, who was injured in a car accident 19 years ago and was hence confined to a wheelchair. "I drank a lot," he said. "I felt angry and depressed."
However, the fan of hunting managed to find shooting an outlet, on which he could focus and better himself. "Shooting makes me happy," he said. After meeting more people from competitions worldwide, Maroney became optimistic.
The shooter has a teammate who had participated in 10 sessions of Paralympics, which encouraged him to do likewise. "I will compete in as many Paralympics as I can," he said firmly.
China's goalball players compete in the women's goalball preliminaries at the Beijing Paralympics, Spetember 7, 2008. [Xinhua] |
I talked with a pretty lady from South Korea, Kim Im-yeon. Born with disability in the legs, the cheerful Kim admitted that she was autistic and had thought of ending her own life.
But it was sports that changed her personality or even life. Kim said she liked basketball, swimming, softball and especially shooting, which taught her to fight for victory.