Paralympics: China Comes Out on Top

The Paralympics closed on Sunday on a slightly more quiet note than the over-the-top spectacle that ended the Olympic Games nearly a month ago. The results also looked a lot different with China coming out on top of the medal table with nearly twice the total draw of second-place Great Britain.

Over the week and a half of action, China managed to bring in 231 medals with a breakdown of 95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze. In comparison, the host country brought home 120 medals (with 34 gold) and coming in second on the number of gold was Russia with 36.

The Independent has rounded up some of their favorite moments of the Games and China has stood out in several. China continued their dominance in the pool:

“Swimmer Lu Dong's starting technique may have attracted some attention – she grips a towel between her teeth and releases her hold to launch into the water – but it was her finish in the S6 100m backstroke final that caused a buzz."

The Chinese swimmer, who has no arms, broke the world record with a time of 1 min 24.71 seconds to take gold”
Team China set a world record in the Velodrome to overtake favored-to-win Team GB who has set a record earlier that day.

The 2012 Paralympics marked the first time that guides received medals as well. Chinese blind runner Guohua Zhou won gold in the 100m, and guide runner, Lie Jie was also presented with a gold for the team effort.

Photo:hinews.cn, photocdn.sohu.cn, sinaimg,cn