Blind Chinese athlete defends long-jump title

Source: CCTV.com | 09-15-2008 16:05

Blind Chinese athlete, Li Duan, has defended his title in the men's F-11 long-jump competition at the Paralympic Games. The win comes just a few days after he also retained the crown in the men's F-11 triple jump.

During this morning's competition at the Bird's Nest, Li Duan established his dominance on thefirst attempt. His jump of 6.61-metres was only 6 centimeters short of the world record enough to secure his second gold medal of the Paralympics.

Totally blind, Li Duan relied on his coach's claps to run and jump. Despite missteps on his third and fourth attempts, Li Duan's performance throughout the final was much more consistent than any of his opponents. All of his 4 successful jumps were above 6.3 meters. And his winning jump was 15 centimeters longer than the best attempt from American Lex Gillette, who took the silver.

Editor:Zhang Ning