Closing the first week of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, China is storming ahead of all other countries in the medal table. And as this past weekend approached, Nanjingers had reason to celebrate; a Paralympic gold medal for a local girl in powerlifting.
Hu Dandan took gold in Tokyo last Friday, 27 August, in the 50kg powerlifting discipline, beating out Egypt with silver and the UK with bronze. As of now, China has taken a total of 13 medals in powerlifting; seven gold and six silver.
Speaking with reporters directly following her win, Hu said, “Thank you, dear motherland, hometown and family. It was your selfless giving that supported me to climb the highest podium of the Paralympic Games again!”.
Indeed. It is in fact Hu’s second Paralympic gold medal; she also triumphed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 in the 45kg event. In recognition of this win, in 2016 China conferred in Hu the 4 May Youth Medal and the 1 May Labour Medal. She was also named an 8 March Red Banner Holder.
Born in 1989 in Xuzhou in northwest Jiangsu, it was polio which resulted in Hu losing the use of her legs by the age of 9 months, reports PSA Nanjing (南京发布). In higher education, she majored in Social Work Studies at Lianyungang Radio and TV University.
Nanjing is Hu’s adopted home, after she met local athlete, Li Zhen, and the two married. They have one son together. With the help of the Jiangsu Disabled Persons’ Federation, Hu also found a stable job and worked in Nanjing Children’s Hospital.
Encouraged to take up sport by her school headmaster, Hu first tried her hand at wheelchair table tennis and then tennis, and went on to compete in the latter at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Hu’s personal motto is “No pain, no gain”, while after retiring from sport, she plans on opening her own business dealing in maternity products.
The 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo is notable in their debuting an official refugee team. The team members, comprising five men and one woman, originate from Afghanistan, Burundi, Greece, Iran and Syria.
According to the International Paralympic Committee, “The team represents the more than 82 million people around the world who have been forced to flee war, persecution and human rights abuses, 12 million of whom live with a disability”.
At time of publication, China had so far taken 109 medals in the Tokyo Paralympic Games, ahead of the UK with 64 medals and the RPC (Russian Paralympic Committee) with 56.
