Rio de Janeiro: China won five gold medals in the pool as they extended their lead at the top of the medal standings at the Rio Paralympics.
The Asian nation also secured four gold medals in athletics, two in cycling and one each in shooting and powerlifting to finish with 20 gold medals on Friday, reports Xinhua.
Britain were second in the standings with 12 gold medals and Ukraine were third with seven.
China’s first victory of the day came when powerlifter Hu Dandan smashed her own world record to win gold in the women’s 45kg division.
The 27-year-old lifted 108kg, to break the previous record of 106kg, which she set in Kuala Lumpur in February.
Nigeria’s Latifat Tijani took silver with a lift of 106kg and Britain’s Zoe Newson claimed bronze with a best effort of 102kg.
A delighted Hu, who had already secured the gold medal before her world record lift, said Rio had become “her lucky place”.
“I could not sleep all night yesterday, but I knew I could get a medal and I did,” she said. “I really love Rio because it is my lucky place. It is a place that has made my dream come true.”
Hu, whose impairment is the result of polio, competed in wheelchair tennis at the Beijing 2008 Games before switching to powerlifting in 2009.
She adapted quickly to her new sport and by 2014 was the Asian Para Games champion in the -45kg category.
Yang Chao paid tribute to the National Paralympic Committee of China after winning gold in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1.
Yang led the final from start to finish, ending with 198.2 points, to beat South Korean rival Lee Ju Hee by just 2.6 points. Uzbekistan’s Server Ibragimov claimed bronze with 172.1 points.
“This is my first Paralympic Games and my first medal,” Yang said. “I’m very excited and I put a lot of effort into this. My family and the Paralympic association put in so much to me, so it is nice to reward them too.”
The 37-year-old opened up a 2.5-point lead after two round and showed nerves of steel to stave off Lee’s challenge in the final rounds.
He attributed his coolness and pressure to a combination of natural talent and training.
“There’s no strategy, I just did daily training very well and it’s just basic skill coming through,” he said.
Xu Qing broke his own world record to win his third straight Paralympic 50m butterfly S6 gold medal.
The 23-year-old finished in 29.89 seconds to beat the record he set at the London 2012 Games by one hundredth of a second.
It was a clean sweep of the medals for China with Zheng Tao taking silver in 29.93 and Wang Lichao bronze in 30.95.
“I didn’t expect that. It has been my record for four years, I didn’t think I would go that fast again,” said Xu, who has now won eight Paralympic gold medals.
“This is the best reply to my friends and family because for a long time they have been trying to convince me not to race, to retire, but this gold shows that I was right.”
Xu, who lost both arms after a car crash when he was six, said he was unsure if he would compete at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“It might be my last Games, it depends on the condition of my body. I might do another if I feel it. But probably not.”
Pan Shiyun set a world record to win gold in the men’s 50m freestyle S7. Pan clocked 27.35 seconds to beat the previous record of 27.67 set by Britain’s David Roberts in 2008.
Ukraine’s Ievgenii Bogodaiko took silver in 27.64 and Colombia’s Carlos Serrano Zarate grabbed bronze in 28.60.
It was Pan’s his third Paralympic Games gold medal after his triumphs in the 100m freestyle S7 and 50m butterfly S7 at the London 2012 Games.
Liu Wenjun clinched her third Paralympic Games gold medal by winning the women’s 100m T54 final.
The 31-year-old crossed the line in a season’s best 16.00 seconds to finish ahead of Tatyana McFadden of the United States by 13 hundredths of a second.
China’s Li Yingjie grabbed bronze in a personal best time of 16.22 seconds.
Liu also won gold in the 100m T54 at the London 2012 Games and in the 4x100m relay T53-54 at the Beijing 2008 Games.
Cyclist Liang Guihua clinched his second Paralympic gold medal by successfully defending his C2 3000m individual pursuit title.
Liang beat Canada’s Tristen Chernove by almost three seconds in the final with a time of three minutes 44.55 seconds.
Britain’s Louis Rolfe defeated Colombia’s Alvaro Galvis Becerra in the bronze medal match.
Zhang Liangmin won her third straight Paralympic discuss gold medal, beating compatriot Tang Hongxia in the F11 final.
The 30-year-old recorded a best attempt of 36.65 meters with her final throw to eclipse Tang’s best effort by 1.64 meters.
Brazil’s Izabela Campos claimed bronze with a personal best throw of 32.60 meters.
Cyclist Li Zhangyu defeated Canada’s Ross Wilson in the final to win gold in the men’s C1 3000m individual pursuit.
Arnoud Nijhuis of the Netherlands beat Germany’s Erich Winkler in the battle for bronze.
It was Li’s second Paralympic gold medal after his triumph in the C1-2-3 1000m time trial in London four years ago.
Song Maodang broke the world record to clinch gold in the men’s 100m butterfly S8 at the Rio Paralympics.
Song touched the wall in 59.19 seconds, beating the previous record of 1:00.45 set by Australia’s Peter Leek in 2010.
Fellow Chinese swimmer Xu Haijiao grabbed silver in one minute 0.08 seconds with Yang Guanglong, also of China, securing bronze in 1:01.18.
It was the 23-year-old’s second Paralympic gold medal after his triumph in the he 4x100m medley relay 34 points at the London 2012 Games.
World record holder Zou Lijuan took gold in the women’s javelin F34, beating Finland’s Marjaana Heikkinen in the final.
Zou recorded a best throw of 21.86 meters, 3.44 meters further than Heikkinen’s longest effort.
Germany’s Frances Herrmann claimed bronze with a top throw of 18.66m.
Zou Liankang set a new world record to win gold in the men’s 100m backstroke S2.
The 21-year-old clocked 1:45.25 seconds to smash the previous record of 1:50.67 set by compatriot Liu Benying.
Liu took silver in 1:48.29 with Ukraine’s Serhii Palamarchuk claiming bronze in 1:49.76.
Sun Qichao fell just short of the world record as he took gold in the men’s 400m T12.
The visually impaired 21-year-old crossed the line in 48.57 seconds, just five hundredths of a second slower than the record set by Tunisia’s Khaldi Mahmoud at the London 2012 Games.
Morocco’s Afri Mahdi took silver in a personal best 49.00 seconds and Portugal’s Luis Goncalves claimed bronze in 49.54.
China set a new world record to win gold in the mixed 4x50m freestyle 20 points. The Chinese team clocked two minutes 18.3 seconds to eclipse the previous record of 2:29.80 set by Brazil last year.
Brazil took silver in 2:25.45 and Ukraine bronze in 2:30.66.
