Early on October 25, the arrival hall at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport buzzed with a familiar warmth as passengers and well-wishers handed out fresh flowers and steaming bowls of local Guizhou rice noodles.
While the Chinese delegation maintained its historic dominance by topping both the gold and medal tables for the fifth time at the continental event, Guizhou’s compact squad punched far above its numerical weight. Competing across 39 events in three major sports—swimming, badminton, and shooting—the province’s nine athletes amassed 10 gold, nine silver, and nine bronze medals, gz.cnr.cn reported.
That haul yielded an average medal contribution rate of 311.1 percent relative to the province’s share of the national delegation—more than double the overall team average of 139.4 percent. Behind those numbers lies a three-decade trajectory of targeted investment and grit that has transformed Guizhou into an unlikely powerhouse within China’s Paralympic ecosystem.
Dominance in Swimming and Badminton
Guizhou’s success was heavily concentrated in its two traditional strongholds. In the pool, Guizhou swimmers competed in 28 events, capturing seven gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. Athletes such as Yang Hong, Liu道敏 (Liu Daomin), and 何圣羔 (He Shenggao) claimed top podium finishes while breaking two meet records.
On the badminton courts, a three-person contingent secured three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. 程和芳 (Cheng Hefang), 杨秋霞 (Yang Qiuxia), and 李明潘 (Li Mingpan) each claimed singles titles in their respective classifications, marking the best performance in the history of the Guizhou Para Badminton Team.
Meanwhile, in the shooting events, Ma Chiyuan placed eighth in the mixed SH2 10-meter air rifle standing event. These results built directly on domestic momentum from the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, where Guizhou’s badminton players collected seven gold medals and swimmers added five.
Li Secures Three Medals Through Intense Resilience
Competing in the high-intensity SU5 men’s singles, doubles, and mixed events, Li became the only standing-class male player from any nation to advance to the semifinals across all three disciplines, ultimately securing one gold and two bronze medals. Remembering his semifinal victory against a two-time Paralympic champion from Malaysia, Li noted that setting aside the scoreboard and focusing strictly on each individual shot allowed him to push past physical pain.
That same resilience runs deep throughout the squad. Yang Hong, who lost his right arm entirely and half of his left arm after touching a high-voltage wire at age 10, returned from Nagoya with three more gold medals to add to his previous Paralympic titles. Cheng Hefang, competing with a 7.5-centimeter difference in leg length and a severe hip injury that nearly derailed her campaign before the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, successfully defended her badminton title while masking her physical agony from opponents.
Overcoming Structural Hurdles in Regional Sports Development
The province’s sustained ascent in adaptive athletics follows thirty years of systematic improvements across four key operational pillars. First, regional sports administrators established a four-tier talent identification network spanning provincial, municipal, county, and township levels, utilizing local games and special education schools to discover athletes from remote mountainous areas.
Second, facing financial and facility constraints compared to wealthier eastern provinces, Guizhou concentrated its resources on individual events and specialized disciplines while boosting coaching quality to maximize training efficiency. Third, multi-departmental cooperation involving sports, finance, human resources, and disabled persons federations addressed athletes’ long-term welfare, securing record funding levels in 2024 and helping five members of the Paris Paralympic delegation secure stable employment.
Finally, grassroots programs expanded community access by building 37 provincial rehabilitation and fitness demonstration sites, delivering adaptive sports equipment and guidance to over 1,000 households.
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