China gets Paralympics' first gold, topping medal table

China gets Paralympics' first gold, topping medal table

 LONDON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Similar as the London Olympics, China took the Paralympic Games' first title and topped the medal table with six gold, six silver and three bronze medals on Thursday, the first matchday of the London Paralympics.

Chinese shooter Zhang Cuiping pocketed the Games' first gold in the women's R2-10m air rifle standing¹ with 500.9 points and broke the 10-year-old world record of 499.3 points kept by South Korean Kim Im-Yeon.

Zhang, 25, who became a national team member in 2006 and collected two silver medals at the Beijing Paralympics, fulfilled her gold dream in London 2012. She started her shooting practise about nine years ago, despite suffering spinal² cord injuries when she was three years old.

Zhang's coach Wang Ping told Xinhua, "Zhang is a veteran, but she trains very hard. She has a great mental strength. In a sense, she was born to be a shooter."

"I even didn't want to put down my rifle after the 10th shot in the final. I want to enjoy that moment," said Zhang after the final.

"I just showed my normal form. During my regular training, I could make one or two points more."

The first London Olympics gold medal was also taken by a Chinese female shooter named Yi Siling. Zhang watched live broadcast a month ago and appraised³ Yi as an "inspirational idol⁴".

China's other five gold medals came from cyclist Li Zhangyu in men's individual C1 1km time trial, cyclist Zeng Sini in women's individual C2 pursuit, swimmer Lu Dong in women's 100m backstroke S6, swimmer Du Jianping in men's 50m breaststroke SB2, and swimmer Zheng Tao in men's 100m backstroke S6.

On the medal table, China was followed by Australia with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals, hosts Britain 2-3-2, Ukraine 2-2-4, Germany 2-2-2, Russia 2-1-1, the United States 1-1- 4 and Brazil 1-1-1.

Other teams taking one gold include Canada, Turkey, South Korea, New Zealand, Azerbaijian, France, Hungary, Nigeria and South Africa.

A total of 11 world records were refreshed Thursday.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

3 appraised   

v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价

参考例句：

• The teacher appraised the pupil's drawing. 老师评价了那个学生的画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appraised the necklace at ￡1000. 据他估计，项链价值1000英镑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。