|
China's Wang Xiaofu celebrates his gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle S8 at the Water Cube, September 8, 2008. [China Daily]
|
Swedish shooting great Jonas Jacobsson collected his 14th Paralympic gold medal Monday as host China climbed to the top spot in the gold medal standings.
|
China's Yao Juan reacts after winning the Women's Javelin F42-46 at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games September 8, 2008. [Agencies]
|
Second-placed United States piled up eight gold medals, but has a total of 17 medals against 28 won by the Chinese. Britain was third on the ladder with seven gold.
China, which topped the medals table with 63 gold in Athens 2004, is widely expected to dominate the Games.
Jacobsson surpassed the eight-year-old world record by a huge margin in the morning in the men's 10m air rifle standing position in his disability class, increasing his Paralympic medal tally to 14 gold, one silver and eight bronze medals.
He will compete in three other events - the men's 50m free rifle 3x40 standing SH1, the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 and the mixed 50m free rifle prone SH1.
"Every competition is a new one. You have to focus," he said.
South Africa's Natalie du Toit was equally impressive.
The 24-year-old amputee grabbed her second gold of the Games, winning the women's S9 100m freestyle final.
She had won the 100m butterfly in her category on Sunday in a world-record time of one min 6.74 sec.
South Africa's Natalie Du Toit shows her gold medal after winning the women's 100m freestyle S9 finals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games September 8, 2008. [Agencies] |
Du Toit, who finished 16th among 25 competitors in 10km marathon swim at last month's Olympics, and Polish
table tennis player Natalia Partyka are the only athletes in Beijing appearing in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
Also in the Water Cube, Wang Xiaofu, who led the Chinese Paralympic team into the Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday, bounced back from a shock defeat in the men's S8 100m butterfly to win the 100m freestyle.
Elsewhere, China's Yao Juan was back on the top of podium, eight years after she won her first Paralympic gold medal in Sydney. The 24-year-old won the women's F42-46 javelin with a world record throw of 40.51m.
"I have always wanted to win back the gold medal, and I never gave up," said Yao, who finished a distant fifth in Athens four years ago.
Yao's compatriot Guo Wei followed suit, taking the men's F35-26 javelin crown.
Lin Haiyan, 45, captured the first shooting gold for China by taking the women's SH1 10m air pistol, while visually impaired compatriot Wang Lijing prevailed in the women's 57kg judo competition.
