UNIT 20 Disability

Disability is no obstacle for a champion

Sun Haitao, a journalism student at Nanjing University, was just five years old when a serious disease robbed him of his right eye. Today however, he has overcome his disability to triumph as an Olympic champion.
Born in 1977, the 183-centimetre guy was strong-willed enough not to be the victim of such a physical disadvantage and was prepared to "suffer more in order to achieve in the future." Influenced by his father, who is a basketball coach, Sun started physical training at the age of 13 and has taken pains to win more than 40 medals at sports games of all levels. Sun made his international debut at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, where he made the astonishing achievement of winning three gold medals in the men's shotput, discus and javelin respectively.
"At that moment, I cried. I had mixed feelings - I felt blessed for the country and bliss for myself," said Sun.
According to his coach, Sun is strong-minded and hard-working. "He never gives in to difficulties. He can do anything the normal athletes do."
Although physically disabled, Sun thinks of helping other less fortunate people. One example is when he donated 5,000 yuan to help people who were made homeless by the 1998 floods.
Sun's college life - he was admitted to Nanjing University in 1998 - is a little different from that of other students. He lives in the university dorm and goes to class in the morning every weekday. But in the afternoon, he appears at the training centre. "I am both a physical person and an academic, but neither job is light," he said humorously.
Sun works hard and is an excellent example of a good student in the class. According to Yin Huixian, Sun's classmate, "Sun goes to the library often and sacrifices his weekends to studying if there is no training schedule."
Dividing his time between study and physical training, Sun seems to be happy.
"I have two goals now. In the short term, I want to progress in my academic studies. And in the long run, to win gold and enjoy hearing the National Anthem again in 2008's Beijing Paralympic Games," he said.

UNIT 20 DISABILITY
江苏省靖江高级中学
顾亚琴 张纯 制作