Wenchuan earthquake survivor wins Paralympics gold medal

With a score of 2-0, China's women's table tennis team won against their competitors from the Netherlands during the class 6-8 final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on Thursday.

Wang Rui, one of the three Chinese gold medalists, came from Chengdu in Southwest China and was a survivor of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake.

In 2008, Wang lost her right leg at the age of 15 in the earthquake.

With support from her family, she joined the Chengdu table tennis team for the disabled in 2009 and began rehabilitation through sports.

At a training center hosted by the Chengdu Disabled Persons Federation, Wang began to learn how to play table tennis from scratch.

She worked hard, practicing swinging the paddle for 8 hours every day.

Hours and hours of practice gave her improving results in the competitions.

She fell in love with the sport and gradually overcame the trauma of losing her right leg.

Through her own efforts, Wang was selected for the Sichuan provincial table tennis team for the disabled, and subsequently to the national team.

The sport of table tennis gave her a second life, as well as the chance to fulfill her Olympic champion dream, she said in an interview.