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Shaoxing athlete to swim at Paralympics

chinadaily.com.cn| Updated: August 16, 2021 L M S

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Jiang Yuyan [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Shaoxing swimmer Jiang Yuyan will represent Team China at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which will open on Aug 24.

Some 4,400 athletes will compete in 539 events across 22 sports.

Jiang lost her right arm and right leg at a car accident when she was four. She started swimming training at the age of eight.

"The imbalance of her body makes it much harder for Jiang to swim fast," said Feng Jie, Jiang's coach. "She choked on water a lot but never spoke of quitting."

After years of training, Jiang won multiple gold medals for China at the Asian Games and global swimming tournaments.

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Jiang Yuyan (second from right, first roll) [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

At Tokyo 2020, Jiang will compete for medals in events including the 100m Freestyle S7 (Women) and 50m Butterfly S6 (Men/Women).

Twenty-eight Zhejiang athletes, including two from Shaoxing, will take part in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Another Shaoxing athlete, Quan Qinquan, will feature in China's goalball team. Quan previously helped Team China secure a fifth place finish at Rio 2016.

First developed as a rehabilitation activity for injured soldiers, goalball became a medal sport at the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics.