Home>Harbin Today

Harbin wheelchair player shines at Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

Updated : 2022-03-16

By ( e.my399.com )


Wang Haitao, front, of China competes during the Wheelchair Curling Round Robin Match between China and Canada during the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing on March 5, 2022. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Chinese wheelchair curling team led by captain Wang Haitao beat the Swedish team with a score of 8-3 on March 12, becoming the defending champion at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
 
Wang was born in 1989 in Yongsheng village in Yilan county in Harbin, capital of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.
 
When he was 9 years old, both of Wang’s legs and feet became paralyzed due to myelitis, and he lost the ability to stand
 
However, Wang didn’t lose hope, and insisted on rolling his wheelchair to school by himself. He spent 40 minutes per day going to and from school.
 
By chance, while watching a sports competition for disabled persons on TV, Wang was inspired by the determination of the disabled athletes and decided to begin participating in sports himself.
 

From left: China's Sun Yulong, Yan Zhuo, Zhang Mingliang, Chen Jianxin and Wang Haitao celebrate on the podium after winning the wheelchair curling gold-medal match against Sweden on Saturday. [Photo/China Daily]
 
In early 2008, Wang suddenly received a call from the Heilongjiang Disabled Persons' Federation inviting him to join the national wheelchair curling team.
 
His longtime dream had finally come true.
 
Wang has achieved great things as the captain of the national wheelchair curling team.
 
At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics, his team won the only gold medal for the Chinese team.
 
In the final of the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championships, the Chinese team defeated Scotland 5:2, becoming the first Chinese team to win the World Championships in wheelchair curling.
 
In the 2021 World Wheelchair Curling Championships, the Chinese team defeated the Swedish team 5:3 and became the world champion once more.