paris paralympics | this head breaks the world record!
2024-08-31
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paris, august 30 (xinhua) -- the 20-minute final of the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay of the paris paralympic games was held at the la defense stadium in paris on the evening of august 30. many eyes were attracted by the last runner of the chinese team -- he did not wear a swimming cap and had a shaved head. when he arrived at the finish line, he hit his head hard against the pool wall, securing the gold medal for the chinese team and breaking the world record with a time of 2 minutes 14.98 seconds, 4.01 seconds ahead of the second-placed american team.
without arms, he could not enter the water quickly, but once he entered the pool, his legs flapping at high speed were like a "turbocharged motor", pushing him to the finish line in one breath. together with his teammates peng qiuping, yuan weiyi and jiang yuyan, he witnessed the rising of the five-star red flag in the paralympic arena.
on august 30, chinese athletes wang lichao, lu dong, he shenggao, guo jincheng, jiang yuyan, yuan weiyi and peng qiuping (from left to right) were at the award ceremony. photo by xinhua news agency reporter zhang haofu
he is guo jincheng, the "armless flying fish" who won three golds and three silvers at the hangzhou asian para games and became an internet celebrity.
this was the first time for 23-year-old guo jincheng to appear on the paralympic stage. in order to test his strength, he signed up for eight events at once. before the relay final, he had participated in five games that day and won the silver medal in the men's 100m freestyle s5 final, breaking the asian record.
"although i was very tired, my teammates passed the last baton to me. i didn't want to let them down and still wanted to try my best." when interviewed after the game, guo jincheng smiled calmly.
in his hometown dongguanzhuang village, cang county, hebei province, his parents, who were busy with farm work, stayed up late to watch his competition. "i want to represent our disabled friends to win glory for the country, and also want to make my parents and loved ones happy, so i want to try my best to win more gold medals," said guo jincheng.
on august 30, chinese athletes wang lichao, lu dong, he shenggao, guo jincheng, jiang yuyan, yuan weiyi and peng qiuping (from left to right) were at the award ceremony. photo by xinhua news agency reporter zhang haofu
when he was 6 years old, he lost both arms in an accident caused by high voltage electric shock. under the guidance and company of his father, he began to practice using his feet to complete daily tasks such as writing and eating. when he was 8 years old, in order to find a way out for him, his father took him to participate in the selection of disabled athletes. the skinny boy wore a striped shirt with empty sleeves. he did not reach the age to join the team, but his perseverance and unyielding eyes attracted coach liu zhenzhai, so he was listed as a reserve player and officially joined the team 4 years later.
without the help of his hands, he could only use his chin to support the drifting board to practice at first, and soon his chin was bleeding; in order to keep his body balanced in the water, he had to increase his core strength training, doing more than 2,000 sit-ups in one night until his "abdominal muscles were twitching"; in daily training, he had to swim more than 10,000 meters a day...
in addition to high-intensity training, he also constantly "added pressure" to himself. worried that the swimming cap would become loose and affect his condition, he simply did not wear a swimming cap, and shaved his head before the game to reduce resistance; every time he crashed into the pool wall without reservation, his head would hurt to some extent, and he also got a bulge, but he was used to it; in order to reduce the frequency of breathing and shorten the time to finish the game, he practiced holding his breath in a basin every night...
guo jincheng (right) in the competition on august 30. photo by xinhua news agency reporter xiong qi
he kept pushing his limits and tried more swimming styles. in the backstroke competition, he needed his coach to hold one end of the towel while he bit the other end with his teeth, pressing his whole body weight on a few teeth and using this external force to enter the water. countless times of practice made his masseter muscles more prominent than ordinary people and also made his teeth start to loosen.
he can do almost everything with his feet that healthy people can do with their hands. more importantly, swimming has made him confident and strong, and he has also gained love. when he talks about the past, he even feels that his life "has been very smooth."
"when i was in primary school, my classmates were very nice to me, so i had a great childhood." he smiled and said seriously, "after all, i have chosen this path, so i have to continue walking on it. i hope i can perform at my best in the future."
(source: xinhua news agency)
