At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics, Ping was in the limelight again. She delivered the Paralympic torch to the final torchbearer Hou Bin with the help of her guide dog "Lucky", amid the cheers and applauds of nearly 100,000 people in the Bird's Nest.
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China's Paralympic athlete Sun Changting (R) transfers his flame to the torch of Ping Yali, who was China's first Paralympics gold medallist, during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium, the Bird's Nest, September 6, 2008. [Agenceis]
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"Disabled athletes are also stars when they stand on the podium. But when they step down, they should start to think how to open the new chapter of their lives. They should learn some skills and find a job, so as to be a champion not only at the Paralympics," she said.
STORY BETWEEN "LUCKY" AND PING
Whenever mentioning her guide dog "Lucky", Ping smiles.
"I always feel proud for 'Lucky', but he did not like me at the very beginning," Ping said.
"Lucky" was selected for Ping by others from a Dalian-based guide dog training center in northeast China. At the beginning, the dog did not like the smell of Ping and felt nostalgia to his coach. He even fled home to look for his coach, but finally was found and brought back to Ping's home by police.
"I try my best to caress him, for example, I comb fur for him every day. And gradually, we became close friends," Ping said.
"'Lucky' performed unbelievably well at the opening ceremony. The deafening applaud in the stadium made it impossible for "Lucky" to hear my order, but he could read the situation by himself," Ping said proudly.
"After seeing another torch bearer Sun Changping delivering torch to me, "Lucky" immediately led me to the final torch bearer Hou Wei without any help. At that time I was as nervous as when I competed in 1984 Paralympic Games, for fear of any mistakes made by him, but he performed so well," she added.
Ping expected "Lucky"'s appearance and excellent performance at the opening ceremony to arouse more social attention to guide dogs.
With living standard going high, an increasing number of Chinese people with vision impairment wish to have their own guide dogs, but the country's guide dog training centers are still inadequate, Ping said.
"But I think 'Lucky' is a milestone. His appearance at the opening ceremony will push forward the guide dog training and make more vision-impaired Chinese live more comfortably with not only barrier-free facilities, but a lovely guide dog," Ping said in confidence.
