Reigning Guilin athlete breaks personal Paralympic Games record

Wu Guoshan in Tokyo. [Photo/Nanguo Morning]

Wu Guoshan, a Guilin-born athlete, received the gold medal in the men's F57 shot put event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after the best throw from Brazil's Thiago Paulino dos Santos was invalidated.

Producing a throw of 15 meters, Wu broke his own record of 14.42 meters, which he received a gold medal for at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, giving him his second consecutive gold medal. 

Born in 1982, Wu entered a local sports school at the age of 12 to become a basketball player and he got admitted to Guangxi Normal University in 2000. Unfortunately, he was involved in a traffic accident in 2003, which caused fractures in his femur, tibia and fibula in both of his legs.

He started to play wheelchair basketball in 2006 and began practicing the shot put four years later. 

His persistent hard work paid off as he has won a total of 32 gold medals, six silver medals and four bronze medals in various international competitions. He has also broken the Asian records in shot put six times.