Two from Jiading strike gold at 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo

Zhou Jingjing (center) and her teammates show their gold medals. — Yu Chao

Yu Chao, Zhou Yulin and Ma Yue

cHiNA topped the medal standings of the 2020 Paralym-pic Games in tokyo that ended earlier this month, with a total of 96 gold medals, 60 silver and 51 bronze.

Among the gold medalists, two of them are from Jiading District — wheelchair fencer Zhou Jingjing and sitting vol-leyball player Wang Yanan.

As a veteran athlete, 32-year-old Zhou has pocketed one gold and one silver medals in indi-vidual competitions, as well as two team competition gold medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games in rio de Janeiro.

Despite her rich experience, Zhou encountered challeng-es when preparing for the competition.

“My elbow inflammation resurfaced, so i had to take part in trainings and receive treatment at the same time,” said Zhou. “i was quite wor-ried the injury might affect my performance.”

“After the previous two Paralympic Games, i’m getting better known by my opponents, who have been studying my techniques and skills. Given my increased age and decreased stamina, the competition is be-coming more difficult, and any minor mistake might cost me the whole match,” she added.

Zhou said she has been con-stantly adjusting her physical and mental status and beefing up her training regimen to en-sure good form.

On the big day, Zhou was to-tally locked in. She partnered with teammates Gu Haiyan and rong Jing, defeating italy 45-41 in the wheelchair foil women’s team final and cap-turing china’s 46th gold medal of the games.

Zhou was born into a farm-ing family in Jiangsu Province.

She was struck with poliomy-elitis at the age of three and lost the ability to walk. She began fencing in 2003 and joined the Shanghai Wheel-chair Fencing team in 2007.