Decade of preparation yields medals at Special Olympics

After a decade of hard training, Lu Guowei from Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, won one gold and two silver medals at the 16th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, Germany, in June, becoming the first athlete in the prefecture win medals at the Special Olympics.

Now the 22-year-old Lu has returned to his hometown, living a normal life — getting up at 6 am to run, take grandpa to have breakfast, wash cars in the business run by his aunt, walk four dogs and go to the county gymnasium to play basketball.

"His life is more regular than people who go to work every day," said Tian Chunhua, Lu's aunt.

It is his regular life and persistence in exercising for a decade that led to his winning medals on a world stage.

After being diagnosed with an intellectual disability and hyperactivity in the second grade of primary school, Lu started studying at the county's special education school. He was lucky enough to meet Yang Jiaguo, a teacher who recognized his running talent.

Yang found that Lu ran faster than other students, and Lu has physical advantages in sprinting, so Yang let him specialize in sprinting events.

Lu began to practice sprinting at the age of 12. Except for 2021, when he stayed at home to accompany his grandma during her last year of life, he has been training to run for 10 consecutive years.

"I get up at 6 am every day and I have academic classes and training in the daytime, and then I have training at night," Lu said.

He participated in intensive training in Beijing for one month before this year's Special Olympics.

To bring out the best in athletes and help them push themselves beyond their limits, coaches developed training programs far beyond the usual intensity. The willpower of disabled athletes is amazing: From beginning to end, no one ever gave up, which inspired Lu to train hard, Yang said.

With talent and training, Lu grabbed gold and silver medals at the Special Olympics in Berlin, bringing glory to his hometown.

Lu can't live a normal life as ordinary people do. He and his father washed cars in the shop run by his aunt. He always tries his best on every car, his aunt Chunhua said.

Now Lu is looking forward to competing in the Asian Paralympic Games, which will be held in Hangzhou in October. It may be his last chance to win glory for his hometown in a world-class event because of the age limit for the sports competitions.