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peninsula omnimedia reporter sun zhaohui

at 4 pm on september 11, the harmony express bound for qingdao arrived at the station. the qingdao disabled persons' federation and relatives and friends had already been waiting for the return of qingdao athletes from the paris paralympics with flowers in their hands and banners outside the no. 4 carriage. in this paris paralympics, 6 qingdao athletes won 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2 fourth places. the number of gold medals and medals created the best results of qingdao athletes participating in the paralympics in the past 20 years, achieving a new historical breakthrough.

athletes return home (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

qingdao athletes won 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal in the paris paralympic games (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

on that day, the reporter followed the qingdao disabled persons’ federation to qingdao north station to welcome the returning athletes.

seeing his son, he couldn't help crying. he led the team all year round and rarely went home.

as soon as the train stopped, everyone's eager eyes were already looking through the windows for the athletes. "they are there!" people under the train bent over and waved their hands, their excitement was beyond words. coach yu jie's youngest son jumped up and down, holding his hands high and calling "mom, mom" ​​repeatedly.

coach yu jie and her son have not seen each other for more than 20 days (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

as soon as the car door opened, everyone rushed forward to give flowers and hugs to every athlete going to the paris paralympic games...

at this year's paris paralympic games, li yujie won a gold medal in the women's k44 57kg taekwondo event, and zhang meng won a silver medal and a gold medal in the women's sb9 100m breaststroke final and the women's sm10 200m medley final respectively, achieving a new historical breakthrough.

li yujie

zhang meng (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

all of this is the result of hard work, and god rewards hard work.

from the preparations to the end of the paralympics, the athletes dared not take a break, and the coach was also on edge. "i have been living in the team since the preparations until now, and i have been home only a few times. i haven't seen my son for a long time. in fact, before the game, i didn't miss home at all, i was always training and adjusting tactics. when the game was over, the tension was relieved, and i really missed home at that time." yu jie said while holding her son.

yu jie's youngest son is in the second grade this year. yu jie joked that she didn't even know which class her son was in. "i told him from a young age that his mother wanted to win glory for the motherland, and the interests of the country are above all else. i am also very grateful to the child's teacher. the teacher told me directly that you belong to the country, and you can leave the child to us without worry. in fact, i am most worried about the eldest child who is in the second year of high school. he is still sick and has a fever at home. when he left, his foot was injured and he can't get out of bed until now. but before the competition, i can't take care of anything else. everything is based on the competition, so i can only put the children aside." coach yu jie, who is usually strong and resolute in the eyes of athletes, shed tears when she said this.

coaches yu jie and li yujie

yu jie told reporters that after two days of rest and adjusting to the jet lag, they will continue with training.

wearing the gold medal earrings given by the coach, "i hope to achieve better results"

the gold medal won by li yujie this time is the first paralympic taekwondo gold medal won by a chinese athlete. it is also the first gold medal won by athletes from qingdao and shandong in this paralympic games. its significance is self-evident.

regarding the heavy gold medal around her neck, li yujie said: "in fact, it is not me who chose taekwondo, but taekwondo gave me an opportunity to realize my self-worth. i am honored to have won this gold medal for qingdao."

li yujie (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

behind this gold medal is li yujie's persistence day after day in the past few years. "before i went, i imagined myself standing on the highest podium, but i didn't dare to think too much, for fear of putting unnecessary pressure on myself and making myself anxious. every time i still trained down-to-earth, i didn't dare to delay at all, always afraid that i would not get this gold medal because of a little laziness or slackness in training."

she shed tears of excitement when she stood on the highest podium. "i am very happy to be able to stand on the highest podium. it has not been easy in the past three years. i am very grateful to my coaches, teammates and partners who have been with me all the way. the moment i stood on the podium, i thought to myself that i finally did it. when i saw the five-star red flag rising, i was very proud that i could win glory for my country and add color to my country. this has been my dream since i first came into contact with taekwondo. at that moment in paris, i finally realized my dream. all my efforts have paid off."

the reporter noticed that li yujie had a pair of golden earrings on her ears, with small discs like gold medals hanging on them. "this is what coach yu used to wear. after i won the gold medal, coach yu gave it to me as a gift. i hope i can keep up the good work and train hard to achieve better results in the future!"

two games in one day, "the excitement of winning the championship diluted the physical fatigue"

zhang meng participated in a total of 6 events in the paris paralympic games, 4 individual events and 2 relays, and won one gold and one silver.

"before i went there, i didn't expect to win a gold and a silver medal. i just thought it would be good enough to stand on the podium. i didn't expect to have such a big breakthrough. i will be more confident in the future," she said.

the last day of the competition was zhang meng's glorious moment, but also her most tiring day. "i competed in two events on the last day, the 200m medley and a relay. the 200m medley is a medium-long distance event, and i did my best, so it was really tiring. after that, there was another relay, so i was very tired that day, but also very excited. because i realized my dream on the last day and won the gold medal, the excitement at that moment diluted the fatigue of my body, and i basically didn't feel that tired anymore."

"if you want qingdao seafood, you should eat crabs tonight!"

when the athletes arrived at the station, everyone said, "thank you for bringing glory to our country!" some citizens who passed by and learned that they were athletes competing in the paris paralympic games gave them a thumbs up.

as tang nan, deputy director of qingdao disabled sports center, said, “we cannot do without the care, support and encouragement of qingdao citizens for our athletes.”

this campaign was fruitful.

a banner was unfurled to welcome the athletes back with honors (provided by qingdao disabled persons’ federation)

"i have been engaged in disabled sports for 16 years. in history, only wu chunmiao won two gold medals in 2008 and 2004. since then, no qingdao athlete has won a gold medal. so these two gold medals and one silver medal are a record high for qingdao disabled athletes."

tang nan said that in the future, more disabled people will be encouraged to participate in sports. "in the next competition cycle, we will increase the selection of disabled athletes in qingdao, encourage more disabled people to go out of their homes, participate in sports, and realize their dreams through sports. we will also increase the intensity of scientific and technological training, and hope that our equipment will be more scientific and technological, and that we can use technology to ensure our training, so that our disabled athletes in qingdao can participate more in the highest competitions and win glory for the motherland, shandong, and qingdao!" tang nan said.

they arrived in paris on august 21 and returned on september 9. after more than 20 days in a foreign land, tang nan said frankly, "i miss my hometown and its seafood. i must eat seafood and crabs tonight!"