Guo Yujie, one of the two flag bearers of the Chinese delegation at Friday night's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, won the gold medal in Para biathlon women's sprint standing on his Paralympic debut on Saturday.
It was the second gold medal for Team China at the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
The other flag bearer, Wang Zhidong, will make his debut on Saturday in a Para ice hockey preliminary match against Slovakia.
Team China's Wang Zhidong (L) and Guo Yujie carry the national flag during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, March 4, 2022. /CFP
Guo, a Para cross-country and Para biathlon skier from north China's Hebei Province, was born with upper limb disabilities. The 18-year-old finished third in the short distance women's standing group at the 2021 Euro Cup in Finland and won three gold medals and three silvers at China's 11th National Para Games in 2021.
Wang, 21, is a Para ice hockey player from east China's Shandong Province with a lower extremity disability. A core player of China's men's Para ice hockey team, he participated in the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in 2018 and 2021.
"I will never forget this moment," Guo said in an interview after the opening ceremony. "I not only represented myself, but also my teammates and those with similar conditions as me."
China's contingent of 96 Paralympians aged 17 to 45 will take part in 73 events across all the six sports in the Games.