[Source: Qingdao Daily] In the women's SM10 200-meter medley final of the Paris Paralympic Games that ended at 23:43 on September 7, Beijing time, Qingdao athlete Zhang Meng won the gold medal with a time of 2 minutes, 26.81 seconds, breaking Asian record. Previously, she won the

In the women's sm10 200-meter medley final of the Paris Paralympic Games that ended at 23:43 on September 7, Beijing time, Qingdao athlete Zhang Meng won the gold medal with a time of 2 minutes, 26.81 seconds, and broke the Asian record. Previously, she won the silver medal in the women's SB9 100-meter breaststroke final and broke the Asian record. So far, Qingdao athletes have won 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the Paris Paralympic Games.

Zhang Meng at the award ceremony. Source: Xinhua News Agency

Zhang Meng, 28, was diagnosed with congenital palmar deformity of his left hand when he was born. He began to get involved in swimming training when he was a teenager, and was selected into the Qingdao Disabled Swimming Team in 2017. Since then, swimming has become an indispensable part of Zhang Meng's life. Apart from her daily physical training tasks, she "soaks" in the swimming pool every day, constantly changing postures and adjusting her swimming rhythm. As she gradually mastered swimming skills, she quickly grew into a "flying fish in the water" and constantly exceeded her own limits.

In 2012, Zhang Meng represented the Chinese team at the London Paralympics and won a bronze medal in the women's SM10 200-meter individual medley; in 2016, Zhang Meng participated in the Rio Paralympics and won a fifth place and a sixth place. In 2021, Zhang Meng participated in the Tokyo Paralympics and won the fourth place in the women's 34-minute 4×100-meter freestyle relay, the sixth place in the women's SB9-level 100-meter breaststroke, and the sixth place in the women's SM10-level 200-meter individual medley. This is Zhang Meng’s fourth time competing in the Paralympics. In the early morning of August 31, Beijing time, Zhang Meng won the silver medal in the women's SB9 100-meter breaststroke event and broke the Asian record.

In the women's SM10 200m medley final of the Paris Paralympic Games, Zhang Meng advanced to the final with fourth place in the preliminaries. "Because the difference between the results of the top three was very small, I was still looking forward to the opportunity before the game." "Get on the podium," Zhang Meng said in an interview after winning the gold medal on September 7, Beijing time. In the medley final, the first two swimming strokes were not Zhang Meng's strong point, and he was only ranked sixth after the halfway period. However, Zhang Meng had a clear advantage in breaststroke and overtook him to first place after 150 meters. "In this competition, my competition strategy was to ensure that I didn't fall behind in the first half and try my best to overtake my opponent in the second half." Zhang Meng said after the game that he executed well according to the established strategy throughout the game, and therefore finally won the championship.

"This is my fourth time participating in the Paralympic Games. The first time I participated in the Paralympic Games was in London. I was only 16 years old at the time and won the bronze medal in the women's SM10 200m individual medley. At that time, I was looking forward to being able to compete in the Paralympic Games. "Get on the highest podium of the Paralympic Games." Zhang Meng told reporters that although her results in the subsequent Rio Paralympic Games and Tokyo Paralympic Games were not very satisfactory, she never gave up. "I came to this Paralympic Games with a lot of energy. On the second day of the Games, I won the silver medal in the women's sb9 100-meter breaststroke final. This further ignited my hope of winning the gold medal. I can win this time. Winning the Paralympic gold medal not only fulfilled my Paralympic gold medal dream, but also brought glory to Qingdao, Shandong and the motherland in the Paralympic Games. I am very happy," said Zhang Meng.

At 4:30 a.m. on August 31, Beijing time, in the women's K44 57kg final of the Paris Paralympic Taekwondo event, Qingdao athlete Li Yujie defeated her opponent 11:0 to win the gold medal. This is the first Paralympic taekwondo gold medal won by Chinese athletes. It is also the first gold medal won by athletes from Shandong and Qingdao at this Paralympic Games. It is also the first time in 16 years for Qingdao Disabled Sports to win a Paralympic gold medal. Click here to view previous coverage.

Reporter | Editor Ren Xiaomeng | Gulu