ATHENS, 28 September 2004 — One could be forgiven for mistaking the Chinese national anthem for the theme song of the Athens Paralympics, so often has its melody wafted through the different venues of these Games.
China has reaped gold a total of 56 times since the Paralympics began, the same number of top finishes earned by second and third-placed Britain and Canada combined.
“It is a surprise even for us,” said Xu Jicheng, who heads up a team of 20 journalists and photographers from China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, and has covered four Olympics. “Nobody expected they could do so well.”
The Games are not quite over, but with table tennis, swimming and athletics on the menu for the two remaining days, the gap between China and competitors struggling to keep up is only likely to widen.
China’s achievement in Athens is all the more remarkable given their weak past performance, and the fact that Athens is the first Paralympic experience for 80 percent of their 200 athletes.
At the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992, Chinese athletes took home a modest 11 gold medals and 25 overall. Four years later in Atlanta improvement was incremental: 16 gold and 39 total.
They doubled their harvest in Sydney, but still only finished sixth in the rankings of gold medal and eighth in total medals, behind traditional powerhouses such as Britain, Canada and Australia.
But in Athens the tables have turned, and China is so far ahead that other nations are wondering how they will ever catch up.
“The Chinese have put a stamp on these Games and have sent a message to the world that they want to be number one,” Charlie Huebner, Managing Director of US Paralympics, said.
“We have a lot work to do if we want to be competitive in 2008.”
How did China improve so dramatically so quickly? The simply answer is that in the run-up to 2008, when Beijing will host both the Olympics and the Paralympics, elite sports for the disabled has become a priority.
“For Beijing 2008 the Chinese have to a team that is worthy of the image they want to project of their country,” said France’s Paralympics athletic director Patrice Gerges.
Evidence of that commitment was the presence yesterday in Athens of Deng Pufeng, son of the architect of Chinese reform Deng Xiaoping and chairman of China’s Disabled People’s Federation.
“The Chinese people are equally enthusiastic about the two Games,” Deng said at a ceremony unveiling the 2008 Paralympics logo before coming to Athens.
Deng — who significantly is also the executive president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the able-bodies Games — was to award medals in athletics.
“China now has better training and better living conditions than before,” for elite disabled athletes said Xu. “We’ve got the money.”
Perhaps the most important step taken to develop Paralympic sports in China, say the heads of competing delegations as well as the Chinese themselves, was assigning top able-bodied coaches to train disabled athletes.
“They are identifying the best coaches and putting them in a central training system, and that makes a huge difference,” said Huebner, who says the United States has adopted a similar approach.
“We are in a logic that is completely Chinese,” said France’s Gerges. “They have put into place a hierarchy that is very military in the way it is structured. When the Chinese train, they also work for the government.”
Much to the chagrin of its competitors, China is almost certain to be stronger in Beijing four years from now. Besides home advantage, they will be participating in more sports and will have a more experienced squad.
“China will try to participate in all sports,” and not just the 11 out of 19 they contested in Athens, said Xu.
On Sunday, Chinese officials in Athens announced that wheelchair rugby, equestrian events and sailing would be added to the Beijing roster, and other Paralympic-specific sports are sure to follow. There is one other human factor as well, Xu smiled. “Don’t forget there are 60 million disabled people in China.”
Meanwhile, the closing ceremony today of the Athens Paralympics will be stripped of its festive elements in commemoration of seven Greek schoolchildren killed yesterday in a car accident on their way to watch a competition, organizers said.
“The Athens Olympics Organizing Committee (ATHOC) has decided to cancel the closing ceremony of the 12th Athens Paralympics as initially planned and scheduled because of the tragic accident that cost the life of pupils,” ATHOC said in a statement.
“The artistic and entertainment part of the ceremony will not take place,” the statement added.
The closing ceremony will now consist only of the athletes’ entry into the main Olympic stadium, the closing speech by the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the handover of the Paralympics flag to 2008 Paralympics organizers Beijing and the extinction of the Paralympic flame.
The ceremony in the 70,000-seater stadium had been sold out. Those who choose not to attend the curtailed ceremony will get their money back, ATHOC said.
Seven Greek schoolchildren were killed when the bus carrying them to Athens to watch the Paralympic Games crashed into a truck near the central town of Kamena Vourla, the Greek health ministry said yesterday.
