Agency :
China made a clean sweep of all three medals in the men’s long jump T11 final at the Para Athletics World Championships here on Friday.
Chen Shichang, 23, bagged the gold with a leap of 6.62 meters at the Universiade Memorial Stadium in the Japanese port city of Kobe, twice refreshing the championship record during the process.
The visually-impaired athlete also outperformed his previous personal best of 6.39m.
Di Dongdong clinched the silver with a jump of 6.50m, while Ye Tao grabbed the bronze with a personal best of 6.48m.
“I did great today, and I am so glad that I am qualified for Paris 2024,” Chen, a world championship debutant, told Xinhua.
Held in East Asia for the first time and a crucial qualifier for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Kobe 2024 Para Athletics World Championships attracted over 1,000 athletes from 100 countries and regions to compete in 168 events.
A total of 73 Chinese para athletes, many of whom are multi-eventers, are competing in the nine-day championships. On Day 1, China took home six medals, including two golds, two silvers and two bronzes. The championships, the 11th edition of its kind, will run until May 25. The event was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
