Chinese team takes home haul of medals at skills Olympics for disabled

The Chinese delegation wrapped up six gold, seven silver and seven bronze recently at the 10th International Abilympics in Metz, a city in eastern France.

Twenty-nine players from the Chinese delegation participated in 20 events in nine different categories of the Abilympics — work skills Olympics for people with disabilities.

Even with 15 fewer contestants and nine fewer events compared with the last session, the delegation from China still achieved a remarkable result, ranking fourth among all the participating countries and regions.

Since the ninth session in 2016, the Chinese delegation has participated in the fields of advanced manufacturing, information technology and modern services. This has helped to broaden the horizons of those with disabilities, raising their scope and skills, and fields of employment.

The Chinese delegation won the championships in food carving, text processing, hairdressing, massage, crochet and embroidery, in addition to silver medals in cooking, women's dressmaking, management of network systems, building web pages, data processing, studio photography, furniture making, computer programming and wood carving.

In an interview with China Media Group, Sha Hongying, a silver medalist in crochet, said: "I outdid myself this time. If I do it at home with this material, I might not be able to do it very well because of the limited time. I worked so hard in the competition that I finished it half an hour ahead of schedule."

Massage is a newly established event in this year's Abilympics, in which two well-experienced Chinese contestants Wang Jun and Wang Jingfu won gold and bronze medals respectively.

The International Abilympics is one of the highest-level and largest vocational skills competitions for disabled people in the world. It aims to help those with disabilities develop vocational skills, stimulate their self-confidence and potential, and provide strong support in employment and entrepreneurship.