Members of China's contingent take part in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday. Photo: VCG

 

Japan's ­emperor declared the Tokyo Paralympics open in a nearly ­empty stadium on Tuesday, with athletes ready to defy stereotypes and shatter records despite a yearlong pandemic delay.

Emperor Naruhito made the announcement surrounded by banks of vacant multicolored seats at Tokyo's 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, with virus rules banning spectators from almost all Games events.

"I declare open the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games," he said, wearing a white surgical mask.

The pared-down ceremony took place in front of around 800 VIPs and officials, but there was a celebratory mood as 162 teams enjoyed their long-awaited moment in the global spotlight.

The ceremony took "We Have Wings" as its concept, creating a mini "airport" on the stadium field and telling the story of a one-winged plane that takes to the skies.

A reduced parade of roughly 3,400 Paralympians and team officials entered the stadium, wearing masks but waving and dancing after the disappointment of the postponement and worries about a potential cancellation.

A volunteer carried Afghanistan's flag into the stadium as a "sign of solidarity" with athletes from the country, which is one of 21 nations unable to compete at the Games.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the event could be a "platform for change."

"Many doubted this day would ­happen, many thought it impossible, but thanks to the efforts of many, the most transformative sports event on Earth is about to begin," he said, as a steady drizzle fell in the stadium.

The 13-day Games, with 539 gold medals up for grabs across 22 sports, arrive two weeks after the close of an Olympics that also took place almost entirely behind closed doors over virus fears.

Team China, with 251 athletes, will be participating in the sport gala this year to seek breakthroughs that define the Olympic spirit, striving for first place on the gold medal tally after the previous good record of being on top of the medal tally four consecutive times. 

Chinese athletes have always shined brightly at the Paralympic Games since 1984, debuting in New York, when track and field athlete Ping Yali won China's first gold medal in the Paralympics. In 2008, Team China maintained their good performance at home in the Beijing Paralympic Games, clinching first place on the gold medal tally with a total of 211 medals. 

Team China has many athletes with much potential this year. Alongside 17-year-old swimmer Jiang Yuyan, the youngest ­Chinese athlete to compete in Tokyo, there is also table tennis player Zhang Yan, a 54-year-old veteran who will be competing in his fifth Paralympics, having won two golds. 

Zhang was never let down by the fact that he may have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair and started to pursue his table tennis dream in 2000. Over more than 20 years, he has faced different obstacles including physical limitations and psychological pressure, but such difficulties made him even more focused on training and self-improvement.

His left hand, the one he uses to turn his wheelchair, is covered with calluses. As a veteran, Zhang revealed to media that he is no longer seeking gold medals as his sole purpose, what he enjoys more is the confidence and happiness that the sport has brought him. 

Extraordinary life story

Sprinter Li Lu is another athlete with an extraordinary life story. 

She won her first gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in the ­women's track and field T46 (a classification for disabled athletes who have a single amputation below or above the elbow) 400 meters final with a time of 58.09 seconds.

Li will rejoin Team China for three events including the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters women's track and field T46 in Tokyo.

The 26-year-old comes from a village in Shangqiu, Central China's Henan Province. She lost her left forearm in an accident when she was 4.

Li has been a fast runner since she was a child. A local disabled persons' federation got in touch with her when she was in sixth grade at primary school and asked her to become an athlete, said local newspaper Jiaozuo News on August 18.

Li won three gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters female track events respectively at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Beijing in May 2018, and another three at China's 10th National Paralympic Games in April 2019.

"l love running. Running has propelled me from a small village onto the world stage," Li once told media reporters.

"These games are held during COVID-19, which shows the power of unity of mankind to overcome ­difficulties," Zhang Haidi, president of China Disabled Persons' Federation, wrote in a public note on August 17.