Paralympics roundup: China win seven gold medals on opening day

(Xinhua) Updated: 2016-09-09 14:34

Zheng Tao of China competes during men's 100m backstroke S6 of Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sept 8, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Zheng clocked 1 minute 10.84 seconds to eclipse the previous record set earlier in the day by his compatriot Jia Hongguang by 1.43 seconds.

Jia took silver in 1:13.42 and Ukraine's Iaroslav Semenenko clinched bronze in 1:15.41.

Song finished in 1 minute 21.43 seconds to beat her own world record of 1:24.66. China's Lu Dong took silver, 22 hundredths of a second behind her compatriot, with the Ukraine's Oksana Khrul claiming bronze in 1:26.82.

Other swimming gold medals for China were won by Zhang Li in the women's 200m freestyle S5 and Ke Liting won gold in the women's 100m backstroke S7.

Zhang clocked 2:48.33 seconds, 2.58 seconds ahead of Spain's Teresa Perales, with Norway's Sarah Louise Rung taking bronze in 2:51.37.

Ke touched the wall in 1:23.06 to beat compatriot Zhang Ying by just 28 hundredths of a second. New Zealand's Rebecca Dubber clinched bronze in 1:23.85.