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2012 London Paralympics champion looks back on career

Reporter: Mike Fox 丨 CCTV.com

09-06-2016 16:05 BJT

As we all know, the Paralympics isn't just a celebration of hard work and determination, it's a chance to see athletes achieve extraordinary things and not let physical limitations burden them. One women who has used sport as a way to channel her energy is paraplegic swimmer Lu Dong and as she approaches her second games, its becoming clearer to her why the Paralympics are so special.

Lu Dong lost both of her arms when she was six years old in a car accident. She learnt to swim at the age of 13 and since has had great enthusiam in the water.

The feeling the sport gave made forget her bitteness and it helped her to gain confidence in life.

"I was quite used to the life of training in the water. Swimming gives me confidence and makes me happy. I really enjoy the freedom under the water," said Lu Dong.

"She has a great will to fight. She can be her best at the crucial moment. In other words, she could be the one that makes it to the final while others maybe don't have the power," said Li Jianhui, China swimming coach.

"Sometimes I felt really tired and thoughts about giving up. I had been insisting on for so many years and each time I would think about the things that swimming had brought to me, as well as the support from my family, so always kept going on," said Lu Dong.

Lu had the opportuniy to participate in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics but her nerves got the better of her and was disqualified for a false start in the country's trials.  That experience made Lu work even harder for the following four years. She would take the gold medal in S-6 level 100 meters backstroke at the 2012 London Paralympics. She also broke both the Paralympic record and the world record on both events.

But after that, Lu found struggled in form, espacially phycially..

"As I had chose swimming as my career, I wanted to make it better and longer. I set a goal for myself and would try my best to achieve that," said Lu Dong.

Lu Dong also kept going forward in her daily life and thanks to swimming, she feels nothing is impossible. 

"Swimming makes me forget my handicapped body. By swimming I can make hornors for my country and my family members would feel proud of me," said Lu Dong.

She has improved gradually sinse the 2012 Paralympics taking gold in the S-6 level 50 meters butterfly at the 2014 Inchon Asain Games. She was the champion of the S-6 level 100 meters backstroke  in the 2015 Glasgow International Paralympic Swimming championships and now the young swimmer is expecting a satisfying result in this year's Olympics.

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