Para Alpine skier Zhang Mengqiu owes Beijing 2022 breakthrough to perseverance

YANQING, Beijing, March 6 (Xinhua) -- When para alpine skier Zhang Mengqiu was dashing on the last slope of the "Rock" course of the Chinese National Alpine Skiing Centre on Sunday, she threw the attendances and volunteers near the finish gate into a frenzy.

The girl who is going to celebrate her 20th birthday in three days, clocked a winning time of one minute and 13.54 seconds at the women's super-G standing race to win China's first-ever Alpine skiing gold at Winter Paralympics.

"I like the golden Shuey Rhon Rhon," Zhang told Xinhua excitedly.

Zhang joined Hebei provincial para-team in 2016 with no skiing experience. Her coach asked her to do more physical training at first. However, when she finished a tough physical session, she was too tired to walk, thoughts of giving up then arose.

"There is a saying in Chinese that there are not many decisive battles one can encounter in life, so you need to spare no effort before the battles," she said. Bearing the motto in mind, Zhang decided to continue her career in the Hebei team.

With determination and ambition, Zhang pocketed a silver and a bronze in the Chinese National Pare-Alpine Championships in 2018 and secured a place in team China.

"I told myself that I wanted to win a gold medal on the national stage, and finally I reached this goal," Zhang said.

After winning the national championship, Zhang started to aim higher. "Thanks to training on different courses both at home and abroad, I gained plenty of experience," Zhang said. "I have widened my horizon on international competitions and decided to train harder to narrow the gap with the world top class athletes."

During the campaign of engaging 300 million people in winter sports in China, the para-alpine athletes, including Zhang and her teammates, improved rapidly in recent years.

In 2020, Zhang outraced many competitive skiers in giant slalom standing, winning China's first-ever World Cup gold. Zhang won three gold and silver medals later in that season. Before the Paralympic Winter Games, Zhang has become China's best bet in the women's standing.

On March 5, Zhang finished 2nd in the women's downhill event. "I am very happy with this result since downhill is not my major event," she said on Saturday.

"I am not good at expressing, but I hope the gold can let more people know that efforts eventually will be turned into rewards," Zhang said.