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Yi Li trains at a gym. [Photo/jiaxingren.com]

Fifty days left before the 2023 World Rowing Championships and 99 days before the Hangzhou Asian Paralympic Games, Yu Li, a native of Haining, a county-level of Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, is preparing for the competitions at the Qiandao Lake National Water Sports Training Base.

Although he lost his legs in an accident in 2001, Yu still pursued his dream of sports greatness and shines on the field.

In 2010, due to his excellent physical fitness and strength in rowing, Yu Li was selected for the Zhejiang Provincial Disabled Rowing Training Team.

With this tenacity and unyielding attitude, Yu was later selected to the China Disabled Rowing Team in July 2011 as the coxswain and captain.

Yu and his teammates, relying on their faith and willpower, have achieved great success in competitions.

In the 2012 London Paralympic Games, they won fourth place in the LTA level four with coxswain (4+) mixed 1000m. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Paralympic Games, they won the championship. In the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, they won sixth place.

"We have been preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Para Games for more than two years," said Yu. He and his teammates now train in strict accordance with their training plan every day, from 8:00 am to 11:00 am for water intensity training, and from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm for strength training or water technology paddling.

The Chinese sports delegations for the 2023 World Rowing Championships and Hangzhou Asian Paralympic Games have not yet been decided, but Yu is very confident, "I hope to be selected into the national team again, bring glory to the motherland and my hometown, and fight for my dreams!"