Li Duan (; born 1978) is a blind Chinese

Paralympic athlete The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

competing mainly in F11 jumping events. He became blind after an explosion on 11 September 1996. Before that he was a professional basketball player who played for the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

team Shenyang Army during the 1995–96 CBA season. He competed in the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. There he won a silver medal in the men's Triple jump F11 event, a bronze medal in the men's Long jump F11 event and finished seventh in the men's Javelin throw F11 event. He also competed at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. There he won a gold medal in the men's Triple jump F11 event, a gold medal in the men's Long jump F11 event and finished fourth in the men's Javelin throw F11 event. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, he won gold medals in the men's Long jump F11 and Triple jump F11 events. He broke the Triple Jump F11 world record in the process. At the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

he won silver in the Triple jump and bronze in the Long jump. Li Duan has become known for his showmanship, arriving on the runway still in tracksuit pants, then stripping down to his shorts with a flourish just before commencing a jump. Li Duan was the final torchbearer of the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

in Beijing, and lit the flame during the

opening ceremonies An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

References

External links

* Paralympic athletes of China Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for China Paralympic silver medalists for China Paralympic bronze medalists for China Chinese male long jumpers Chinese male triple jumpers 1978 births Living people Athletes from Jilin World record holders in Paralympic athletics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Basketball players from Changchun Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Visually impaired long jumpers Visually impaired triple jumpers Paralympic long jumpers Paralympic triple jumpers 21st-century Chinese people Medalists at the 2010 Asian Para Games {{PRChina-Paralympic-medalist-stub