Jiang Yuyan competes in the women's 50-meter butterfly S6 swimming final at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Monday. Photo: VCG

Chinese Paralympians claimed eight golds, six silvers and one bronze at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Monday, continuing their place on the top of the medal tally with 54 golds, 35 silvers and 30 bronzes.

In swimming, Jiang Yuyan, the youngest member of the Chinese delegation at 16, was crowned Paralympics champion in the women's 50-meter butterfly S6.

She clocked in a time of 34.69 seconds to edge out Ireland's Nicole Turner, who came second 1.61 seconds later.

Jiang's sensational victory at her Paralympic debut had been apparent ever since she dived into the pool in Japan's capital. While she didn't medal in her previous events (50-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter freestyle relay), she broke the world record and the Paralympic record at the same time during her heat in the women's 50-meter butterfly earlier in the day.

"I'm very happy, and also quite emotional. I feel like I've achieved what I set out to do. This is my pet event. To be able to win a gold… it's a gold, right? I'm very happy about it," Jiang said after the event.

"It's recognition for all the training I've put in all these years, and I think it's a milestone of my life."

Playing in the street as a 3-year-old, Jiang's life almost ended when she was run over by a dump truck.

The injuries to the fun-loving toddler were so severe her right arm and leg were amputated, leaving her mother distraught.

"My good little girl was left disabled," her mother told local media. "I thought the sky was falling. How would she spend her life?"

But by the age of 14 it had become clear. Her daughter, now nicknamed "Flying Fish," was breaking world records and gaining global fame in the pool.

Remarkably, Jiang has only been swimming for eight years but has achieved more than many athletes manage in a lifetime.

Jiang first made a splash domestically when she won her first national titles at the age of 11.

But it was when she won three gold medals as a 13-year-old at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018 that people outside China began to believe she could be something special.

A year later global swimming really took notice when, as a 14-year-old, she dominated the World Championships in London.

Jiang announced herself with three golds and two bronze medals, setting a new world record in the S6 50-meter butterfly of 34.86 seconds, which she has now obliterated in Tokyo.

In the S6 category she also won the 400-­meter freestyle, in another world record time, and the 100-meter freestyle. Her bronzes were in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke.

Her efficiency with only two functioning limbs in the butterfly is such that her 50-meter time is just 10 seconds slower than the full-bodied ­butterfly world record.