Dongguan cyclist Wang Xiaomei

On August 25, Dongguan cyclist Wang Xiaomei claimed the silver, in a time of 3:54.975, in the women's C1-3 3000m individual pursuit of cycling track event in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It is the first medal for the Chinese delegation at this Paralympic. Australian athlete won the gold.

Wang Xiaomei, 21 years old, is a patient with cerebral palsy. "As cerebral palsy has a great impact on body coordination and balance, it is challenging to balance on a bike." Coach Li Peng once introduced that Wang was a track and field athlete when she was 16. However, she was only an average performer in the field. And as she had been longing to stand on a higher stage, finally she turned to practice cycling. When she first joined the cycling team, she was relatively thin and weak and failed to straighten her body. After more than two years' training, her physical condition got much better. She also overcame problems in body balance and muscular coordination.

Wang was born in August 2000. In 2014, she began her sports training in Dongguan. After more than four years' training, she participated in China's 10th National Paralympics Games in 2018. Wang Xiaomei successfully won four gold medals in 500m track cycling individual time trial event, track cycling 3,000m individual pursuit event, cycling road 10 kilometres individual time trial event, and 45 kilometres cycling road race. The champion also broke two national records then. In 2019, she won the women's C3 catching championship in the Dutch Field World Championships and the women's C3 group race championship in the Canadian Road World Cup. In China's 11th National Paralympics Games in 2021, she swept five gold medals in 500m track cycling individual time trial event, track cycling 3,000m individual pursuit event, women's team road race, cycling road 10 kilometres individual time trial event, and 45 kilometres cycling road race and broke one national record.

Photos: CCTV.com