WHEELCHAIR fencer Li Hao won China’s first gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games yesterday in men’s individual sabre – category A.

Li, competing in his first Paralympics, defeated Artem Manko of Ukraine 15-12 in the final.

After trailing 0-2 to start the match, Li pulled closer to cut the deficit to 3-4. Manko responded with a flurry of offense to establish an 8-4 lead.

However, Li remained composed. His counterstrike continued to grow sharper as he hit Manko six times, putting Li on top 10-8.

It took a red card for Manko to calm down and he managed to tie the score 10-10. However, Manko could no longer stop Li’s offense, allowing four straight points. Though Manko’s desperate attacks at last got him two points, Li took advantage of his opponent’s lack of defense to complete a match-winning attack.

“I was both excited and nervous. This is a life moment after all,” said Li after the match. Li lost his right leg in a car accident when he was a kid, but that did not keep him away from sports. He left Sichuan for Shanghai when he was 21 years old and has improved his fencing skills a lot since then.

“I don’t think I could make it today if it weren’t for fencing,” said Li.

Li’s teammate Tian Jian beat Andrii Demchuk of Ukraine to win the bronze medal.

Earlier yesterday, cyclist Paige Greco of Australia claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, winning the 3,000m pursuit on the velodrome track. Wang Xiaomei of China was second and bronze went to Denise Schindler.

It was the first of 24 gold medals up for grabs yesterday as the Paralympics got underway in the middle of a pandemic that has seen new cases in Tokyo soar since the Olympics opened just over a month ago.

Greco was born with cerebral palsy, which mostly affects the right side of her body.

It was her first Paralympic Games medal.

“It feels amazing,” Greco said. “I still can’t believe it. I keep looking down and seeing [the gold medal]. It’s not really sunk in yet.”

Away from the competition, organizers confirmed yesterday that two more athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Paralympic Village. That brings to three the total of positive tests by athletes in the village over the last two days.

Over the last three days, organizers have confirmed nine positive tests in the village. The additional six, who are not athletes, are described as “Games-related personnel.”

Organizing committee spokesman Masa Takaya said the athletes were “from different sports and different countries.” But he gave few details and said the athletes have been placed in isolation.

Japan is expanding its coronavirus state of emergency for a second week in a row, adding several more prefectures as a surge in infections fueled by the delta variant that strains the country’s health care system.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, top medical adviser for the government, criticized International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach for returning to Tokyo to attend Tuesday’s opening of the Paralympics.

“Right now, the government is requesting people to telework and [Bach] is coming back just for that,” Omi said, responding to a question from an opposition lawmaker in parliament.

“When the government is making those requests to the people, why is the Olympic leader, President Bach, coming all the way to Tokyo. Anyone with normal, common sense should be able to think that he has already come once and even visited Ginza.” (SD-Xinhua)