China Dominate FESPIC Games, Look Forward to 2004-08 Paralympics

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 02, 2002

China Dominate FESPIC Games, Look Forward to 2004-08 Paralympics

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China have taken the top spot of the final medal standings for a fifth straight time with their athletes outshining others at the eighth Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC Games) which closed on Friday at Busan, South Korea.

China, winners of the most gold medals and medals total for thelast four versions of the region's largest sporting event for the disabled, garnered 191 golds, 90 silvers and 50 bronzes for a total collection of 331 medals in Busan. This was a bit less thantheir harvest of 340 medals including 205 golds in Bangkok four years ago.

Hosts South Korea were ranked second, with a medal credit of 62-68-60, followed by Thailand (43-48-37), Japan (33-25-25), Hong Kong, China (27-15-16), Chinese Taipei (17-25-21), Australia (17-17-10) and New Caledonia (7-1-2) for the third to eighth places.

Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong, China took the second to fifth places of the medal standings in the previous FESPIC Games.

Of the 40 participating countries and regions, 29 have split a total of 433 gold medals from 17 sports, as the organizers declared here on Friday.

The week-long Games saw a total of 18 new world records established, in the sports of athletics, powerlifting, swimming, archery and shooting.

Chinese swimmer He Junquan became the Games' most decorated athletes, with a total of six gold medals to his credit.

He was followed by seven more swimmers and a shooter, each winning five gold medals. Of them are five Chinese and two Thai swimmers and one South Korean shooter.

And a total of 11 athletes have won four gold medals each.

While celebrating with their athletes for their impressive performance in Busan, officials of the Chinese contingent warned them of a harsh prosperity ahead.

"We are happy to have achieved even above what had been set forthe delegation before the Games," said Guo Jianmo, chef de missionof the Chinese delegation.

"But we should not forget that we still lag behind many others in such team events as sitting volleyball and wheelchair events, due to a lack of competition experience and equipment up to the international standard. To do well as the hosts of the Beijing Paralympics, we need to make new plans and make still harder efforts," said Guo, who is the president of the Chinese ParalympicCommittee (CPOC).

"In terms of our performance at the FESPIC Games here, we couldsay we are still number one in Asia in sports by disabled athletes.But our main rivals are the Europeans and Americans, who are not competing in FESPIC Games," said Zhao Jihua, a spokesman of the Chinese delegation.

"What is more important is that, through their debut in such major overseas competition as the Busan Games, our younger generation of athletes have obtained international experience. That is valuable for them to gradually mature for future events, the 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Games in particular," said Zhao, who is also CPOC's vice-president.

"To make down-to-earth and painstaking efforts to explore and train young talents is of primary importance to us as some of our front-line athletes would retire from their respective sports prior to the 2008 Games in Beijing," Zhao said.

"We are working closely with governmental departments to give greater and more practical support to physically disabled athletes.Among the projects in plan are the establishment of a central administrative center for sports by the disabled and that of more permanent training camps so that systematic training could be guaranteed," said Guo Min, an official with the State General Administration of Sports, who is responsible for such projects.

The next FESPIC Games are to be staged sometime from August to September in 2006 in Kuala Lumpur.

The week-long FESPIC Games came to a close in a ceremony, whichwas highlighted with the hand-over of the FESPIC Games Federation flag by the Busan Games organizers to a representative of the Kuala Lumpur Games organizing committee, artistic performance and extinguishing of the Games flame.

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