Liu Zixu wins Team China's first gold medal in Para biathlon Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Team China has produced some eye-catching results on the first day of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, temporarily ranking first on the overall medal table with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals as of press time on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Team Ukraine also mounted a strong start at the Paralympics, with three gold, three silver and one bronze, ranking second on the overall medal table, followed by Germany, which has three silver and one bronze. 

Liu Zixu bagged China's first gold medal after finishing the Para biathlon men's sprint sitting in 18 minutes and 51.5 seconds. Team China's Liu Mengtao won the bronze medal by finishing in 19 minutes and 33.3 seconds. 

China's Guo Yujie wins gold in Para biathlon women's sprint standing Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Shortly after Liu Zixu's victory, Guo Yujie won the gold medal in Para biathlon women's sprint standing, the second gold medal for Team China. 

Guo finished the 6-kilometer course in 20 minutes and 32.6 seconds. The 17-year-old was also the Chinese delegation's flag bearer at Friday's opening ceremony. Zhao Zhiqing, Guo's teammate took the bronze medal in Para biathlon women's sprint standing.

Meanwhile, Chinese athlete Shan Yilin took the silver in the Para biathlon women's sprint sitting event in her Paralympic debut, bagging the first-ever Paralympic medal in the event for China. 

Zhu Daqing, won the first medal for Team China - a silver from finishing second in the Para alpine skiing women's downhill vision impaired. 

China's Zhang Mengqiu won silver in Para alpine skiing women's downhill standing, while Liu Sitong grabbed a bronze medal in Para alpine skiing women's downhill sitting. 

Team China's performance on day one of the Paralympics drew widespread applause from the Chinese public on social media, where many praised the spirit of Chinese para-athletes.

The topic "China is too fast for medal winning" went viral on Sina Weibo, with a total of 24.27 million views as of press time on Saturday. Chinese netizens have been expressing their excitement and pride on Chinese social media platforms cheering on the para-athletes.

"The winning is too fast, and I can't even get my eyes off the medal table because I am afraid of seeing less medals when talking to others," a Weibo user commented. "All athletes are heroes," another netizen said. 

Global Times