Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
China claimed seven more gold medals on Saturday to remain a runaway leader on the Paralympic standings — with 200 medals including 93 gold.
On the penultimate day of the track and field event, the Chinese set a number of records. Deng Peicheng, making his Paralympic debut, won the men’s 100m of T36 class in 11.85 seconds, setting a Paralympic record.
“I just gave all of my power,” he was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “Without this kind of power, I couldn’t even get into the top three. I concentrated on every step in order to win.”
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Guided by Liu Donglin, world record holder Liu Cuiqing won the women’s 200m T11 final in 24.936 seconds for her second gold in Tokyo.
“We are very happy and excited,” she said. “It was not easy to have such a good performance today. We have had injuries and it was a challenge to our spirit. But we gave it a try and we won the gold medal.”
Sun Pengxiang, the 2019 world champion, bettered his own world record by winning the men’s javelin throw F41 with 47.13 metres, while Mi Na won the women’s discus throw F38, setting a world record of 38.50 metres.
In badminton, a new sport added to the Tokyo Paralympics, China won three gold, two silver and one bronze after the three-day competition.
Yang Qiuxia, the 2019 world champion, beat Japan’s Ayako Suzuki in the women’s singles SU5 gold medal match on Saturday. After winning the first set 21-17, Yang finished the second set 21-9 to give China its first Paralympic badminton gold.
China’s Liu Yutong and Xu Tingting met in the women’s singles WH2 gold medal match. The more skilful 17-year-old Liu won both sets 21-15 to claim her first Paralympic gold medal.
“I played well today,” Liu said. “My opponent is relatively strong. It’s never easy to play against a teammate. I was able to execute.”
Qu Zimo, 19, snatched the gold medal in the men’s singles WH1 against South Korea’s 51-year-old Lee Dong Seop, winning the first set 21-6. At the half of the second set, Lee announced his withdrawal, making Qu the gold-medallist.
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